The Arrangement
by Reverse Gravity
Summary: Tenten discovers a secret that forces her to make a lifetime chioce: one that could take her life. On top of that, she has violated the entire Hyuuga code of being: branch members must be cursed slaves... NejiTen [COMPLETE]
1. Part I

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**The Arrangement**

_By Reverse_

Pretense: Time has gone by and Neji and Tenten have become closer, completely comfortable with one another. Both are Jonin with Neji under review for ANBU. They are around sixteen.

**Part I**

_So cry if you want to  
Yeah, you can come undone  
But you've got to have a heart to have a broken one  
(_Broken One – Luke Doucet

I suppose that morning could have gone over a lot better if I had eaten breakfast. I was annoyed at Neji for the late training session, I was angry to be walking down the hall to the Konoha Hokage's office. And to top it off, I was hungry.

There was nobody around me that I knew, none of the ninja's I was usually partnered with. Long past were the days were I was a genin on a semi-permanent team. I was Jonin now, partnered with anybody who could get the job done, but often enough standing alone.

I knocked on Tsunade's door; the sound hollow and ominous to my ears. No, I wasn't scared. I was, however, tense. As far as I knew; Neji was still not back from the mission he was supposed to have returned from yesterday. Something or other about infiltration, I suppose. He was good at that; just as I was generally requested for assassinations. Part of it was probably his bloodline.

I really was Neji's best friend, even if I wasn't the only one anymore. I was nervous because this was how Tsunade would tell somebody that their precious person wasn't coming back. The same way the Hokage told me at six that my shinobi father 'wasn't coming back.' Same way he told me that my kuniochi mother 'had decided not to come back.'

She couldn't live for me; she could only live for my father. It was made an accident, but it was completely on purpose. A suicide of guilt; a guilt that blinded even the strongest.

Shizune opened the door, sliding the panel to allow me access.

"Tsunade-sama?" I questioned.

She looked at me with pity in her eyes. I hated that look. "Is Neji-kun okay?" Damn! I was not thinking about what I was saying! I _never_ called him that; it would probably either enflame his ego or annoy him. I didn't want to be around to find out which either.

"Neji-_kun_?" She asked with particular emphasis on my slip-up.

I emitted a noise that could be deciphered as a squeak; accept for the small fact that I do not squeak.

She waved it aside. "Tenten, I found a document that binds you to one of the son's of the Inuzuka family. Inuzuka Kiba's cousin, I believe."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" I blurted, I didn't get this at all.

She reread the document in her hands, completely serious. I never thought I'd wish that it was just a jutsu of Naruto's that would start screaming about 'the look on my face, dattebayo!'

"It's a marriage agreement; from when you were age five." she said simply.

"Hokage?" Shizune rang in the background; I barely heard her or the door over my shock. My tongue betrayed me as I blurted out; "I'm engaged!"

"Hn?" I heard. I slowly turned around, recognizing the owner of that particular voice.

Neji stood, looking half-amused and a little sick. There was a long cut on his arm and I wondered if that weren't part of it.

"Is there any way I can possibly get out of this?!" I demanded, deciding to ignore Neji for the moment. My palms went flat on the table as I placed them there. I _was _very angry.

Tsunade looked from me to Neji, her light brown eyes interested. "I can give you three weeks to marry whomever you feel. After that, I will have to remind the Inuzuka's. You understand right?"

Three weeks; I had to marry somebody whether I chose them or not. This was just damn fine! I did not need this; I was a full-fledged ninja, I did not need a husband. I was not just another woman to be bought and traded like freaking property.

"I'm not anybody's property!" I half-yelled before recomposing myself.

I looked down, ashamed of my outburst. "Sorry…"

She nodded to show that it was fine, as Shizune came to show me out. I guess with a temper like Tsunade's my outburst was only amusing.

I took one last glance at Neji before I left. He caught my arm; his fingers leaving a trace of gooseflesh when he abruptly let go. "I'll see you at the usual place in an hour."

I nodded before taking my leave; Neji turned to the Hokage, no doubt to tell her about whatever had held him up on his mission. He wasn't the type to be late. And that also meant when he said to meet him in an hour, he'd be there in an hour.

Unlike the other girls around Konoha, the only thing I needed was my scrolls, and I was never without them. My kunai pouch, my senbon in my hair, and my scrolls; no makeup or special clothes. My outfit hadn't altered much, a white, red-edged shirt over a pair of black slightly-baggy capri's.

My hair? Still up in my odango style. Neji also hadn't changed, maybe his hair was a little longer, but he had been a Jonin for a lot longer than me, he still wore the Hyuuga robes.

The usual place was the place we had trained together for all the years since the graduation at the academy. Since Neji and I were put on a team with two lunatics wearing enough green to shame a leprechaun; sanity was worth clinging to.

By the time I got there; in all my musing and distraction, an hour had already passed.

In the middle of the clearing sat Neji, meditating.

I sat down right across from him, settling easily. I knew better than to interrupt, and my own mind was not exactly at rest. So I too tried to settle my rebellious mind; reliving the events of this morning while noting it was already afternoon.

In three weeks time I would be getting married to somebody I would have to choose and ask. Or in the same three weeks I would have to marry a cousin of Kiba's. I didn't even know said cousin's name. This was not helping! I could feel my hands clench and I stood up abruptly. In my haste I didn't notice Neji's eyes open, him watching me. I found a tree that looked, for lack of better words, inviting. It looked like it might hold up a little.

With flat hits that made the bark chip and fly, I struck all my anger and frustration against the tree. Even my chakra agreed as it laced my fingers to maximize the damage.

Against my will my eyes started to blur. I had no choice, no choice in my emotions. A kuniochi, a ninja must always have control of their emotions. A ninja has no choice of their missions, but to get married?! To be fucking married off like some breeding bitch is chosen for a dog, it's unspeakable! It shouldn't happen to _me_!

"That's not going to help." A calm voice spoke behind me; I turned to flip a kunai at him. He caught it smoothly, gracefully plucking it from the air. I _hated _him! I wanted to see him suffer.

"It's a cage! There's no way out for me!" I screamed. I fell to my knees, angered and torn. He took a step closer and I threw a few half-hearted shuriken at him, He didn't even falter in his step as he tossed them aside.

"There are many cages." He replied distantly; standing in front of me. I looked up at him and he unconsciously reached for the curse mark on his forehead. His cage, a mark that sold his childhood for fear and determination. A world that's literal to the saying "only the strong survive."

"Sorry, I…" I trailed off, it was a little sad to admit. "I forgot about that."

He raised his eyebrow in question. I sighed and began to explain. It wasn't something _anybody else _was likely to forget.

"When you were younger, it caused you much more grief than now, it made you believe you couldn't change, so you believed others couldn't either. But you fought fate anyway. You weren't without hope; I knew that, even if you didn't want to acknowledge it."

My pretense was of what he already knew. "I guess it's as much a part of you as your byakugan or chakra; just as real. But it doesn't make you, Neji."

I gave a small nervous laugh. "But marriage?" He asked, never one for words. I took it that he agreed with what I just said, but was still unclear on that one part. The part where I had compared his curse; albeit unknowingly, to my hated and upcoming nuptial arrangement.

"You're still Neji. But I won't be Tenten, will I? I mean, just Tenten, weapons mistress of Konoha. I'll be the Inuzuka weapons mistress. It's like I won't be my own person."

He nodded, understanding. "What if it was to somebody you liked?"

"That wouldn't be so bad, I guess. It would feel like I chose it." I shuddered, mentally ticking off the list of Konoha's male-and-available population. There was Lee, who was unacceptable. Naruto; who was out of the question. Kiba; whom I was opposed, and his teammate Shino, who was a little on the strange side. Plus, that trait of Shino's with the bugs… Not exactly a major turn on for me. Sasuke was, of course, completely inconsiderable, the gossip was that he had killed Orochimaru and was using his powers to track his brother. His old Team Seven were still on edge whenever sent on a mission that they may come across him. Everybody was younger than me anyway. Other than that, there was, well, Neji.

Neji was… as much as I hate to admit it; acceptable. I sort-of liked him. Actually, I really liked him, and that was the problem. I trusted him completely, maybe I even loved him. Knowing I liked Neji like that just made my arranged marriage that much more unbearable.

"Tenten?" He spoke, his voice drawing me from my reverie. I looked up, meeting his pale lilac eyes. He had beautiful eyes, I noticed, they paled my plain brown ones in comparison. I believe my expression was interested, but not betraying anything about how I felt. I might have been wrong though. "You're hopeful even though you're trapped in this situation."

I was surprised, they were my words to him, but they were just as powerful second hand. "Anybody you take the name of will become a part of you. But you're still you."

A small smile crossed my face in light of the situation. Neji lifted me with a hand, my fingers curled around his as he pulled me up.

"I want to show you something." He stated calmly.

His face remained low in expression, but after all the years I had spent depending on him, I recognized a slight version of a frown. He was a little torn between decisions, but he had made his. And just because he was Neji, any decision he made, he would break before he didn't carry it through.

"Okay…" My voice was unsure, this was a new development. Neji rarely offered to teach anybody anything, though he would supply advice quite readily; and often sarcastically.

The edges of his eyes crinkled up in slight amusement. "You should know what you want."

"I want you to show me what you were going to show me." I stated blankly, trying to hitch an annoyed tone to the sound of my voice.

He might have smiled for a second, but I didn't see. "That's better."

Neji turned and stood behind me. "Follow me." He didn't even have to say it, and he knew it too. I was completely trusting of him.

His hands gripped my elbows from behind and slid down to cover my hands. I could feel a rising (but suppressed) blush at his proximity, my skin flaming with an icy burn were our bodies touched.

My stomach muscles tightened at the awareness. I let out a breath that I hadn't realized I was holding.

"I want you to let me move your hands. So relax… don't resist." He whispered.

I nodded lightly; I knew he could feel the movement.

His hands covered mine perfectly as he started to move them in separated strokes. He created a pattern of strikes. "If you focus your chakra into your hands, you can use the gentle fist style."

I copied the pattern even when he stepped away. "Try it on me. I'll block."

I was startled that he would say that. It wasn't something that he'd ordinarily bother to do. Neji usually wouldn't bother to teach me anything, especially so close to his bloodline. The gentle fist style was strictly Hyuuga.

I nodded in affirmation and started the working of the pattern, lacing my attacks with chakra that sparked blue residue. Neji blocked expertly, not even fazed or challenged.

He didn't look bored and if I didn't know better I would say he actually looked a little proud, but not of himself. It fazed me and I stopped fighting suddenly; my arms limply falling to my sides.

His gaze was curious; even if his voice did not convey it.

"I was wondering; what brought this on?" I asked; my tone filled with innocence, Neji knew me well enough to see through my pretense.

He raised an eyebrow, requesting an explanation, though not demanding one. I don't know where he developed his patience, but for a hasty enemy, it was a weapon unto itself.

I thought of a believable explanation. I took a step closer, warning him with my eyes. My fingers reached up to trace the band of his headband where the bandages and the curse would lie beneath. The green brand, maybe there forever, the bandages however, were ever changing. It was unsanitary to leave them unattended for long.

My hand wasn't even shaking as I traced were I knew the mark would be. The fact he even allowed me this close, spoke his trust of me.

"Teaching me something like this…" I trailed off, unable to find the words. My hand fell with my gaze. Both; reaching towards the grass and dirt that littered the clearing.

His eyes were closed when I looked up again. "It is not something I should do, but the times are changing."

He spoke of Hinata's growing involvement. The gap was beginning to close, but there was one thing she would never get rid of as long as her father's peers and elder's ruled council in the Hyuuga family. The curse of the branch line was not to be done away with. The main house had tasted the power and they would not yield so easily.

"What would happen if…" I trailed off, afraid for once in a long time.

"We can't." He spoke, cutting me off. "You know we can't."

"Then its set in stone, you know I'd never ask anybody else to even bother." He knew I was speaking of my marriage. The arrangement of it; I hated! But I would not beg for a difference, I would not run away. If this were my downfall, my depression and repression, I would face it. And even if I couldn't fight it; I'd put up one hell of a challenge for it.

He frowned for a moment, a rare movement of expression so open that it shocked me. "That's not it." He looked down. Again Neji was caught in the rare and surprising show of intense emotion; even if his voice remained hard. "Do you know what they would do to you if I took you as my wife?!"

His demands were met with my defiant stare, brown eyes open and rebellious; daring him to oppose me in my unspoken proposal.

"They would cage you worse than any arrangement. You'd be tied to me by marriage and you'd be caged to the Hyuuga household by the curse. They'd curse you to be with me." I wasn't satisfied. I wanted to know why he couldn't just be selfish. At the same time; I knew Neji was a true shinobi, entirely selfless.

"I don't want to see that mark on you." He said simply. I knew he understood that his fathers sacrifice was not the result of a curse, but of a choice. Inside, he still believed that it would never have happened if it hadn't been a factor. Secretly I agreed; if the Hyuuga clan wasn't so divided, they would be stronger. But I wasn't even part of a clan. I was just a daughter to two long dead and forgotten ninja's who had cursed me with an arranged marriage.

And to hell and beyond, it was painful. It was just as painful to see Neji leave as the sun crashed with the horizon. A bloody sky enfolded me.

#&#

I didn't realize that I was still standing there when my knees gave way. My legs crashed into the dirt and I didn't even try to fight my fall. My upper body followed with my head hitting the earth. The ground smelled damp. Maybe it was dew, I had no idea. But my body refused to fight anymore and my eyes began to cloud.

Though I was completely alone I felt safe, my weary, traumatized mind and body fading. I knew this place. Neji and I had come here to spar for years. Everything pivotal in our lives between us had happened here.

There was our first match, his learning of the kaiten. Telling me the blind spot of the byakugan; everything was here! With that thought the world slowly faded into the darkness of sweet unconsciousness.

#&#

My eyelids fluttered open as I tried to wake up. I heard a moan from my throat but had trouble associating it with me. There was no dirt and grass beneath my head. It was something warm. Instinctively I snuggled towards the warmth, trying to burry myself further.

"Where were you last nig-Oh…" I heard a sweet female voice ask. The sounds of footsteps seemed to multiply. My eyes drifted shut again.

#&#

The next time I awoke, I was defiantly more alert. This was my apartment, the navy sheets and the smell of honey was all mine. The voices that I could hear from the living room however, were not.

I knew it was Neji who spoke. "Should I go wake her up?"

A moment later the sliding door was forced open to reveal a Hyuuga; but not Neji. It was Hinata.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" She asked, still a little shy around people.

I groaned. "No." I stated.

She nodded slightly; a little taken aback by my plain answer, I wasn't usually one to deny simple information. "It's too painful to recall."

The Hyuuga Hinata actually looked annoyed, yes it's possible. I have to admit, I was impressed. "It's about Neji-niisan isn't it?"

I was surprised; it wasn't about Neji at all. He was only trying to do what he believed was right. "It's about my fucking arranged marriage!" I struggled with myself, my voice coming out in tones that could only convey agitation and bitterness.

"W-what?!" She squeaked, no longer on smooth footing.

I could hear footsteps as she left the room and dragged Neji back in.

"You are an idiot Neji-niisan, did you know that?" Then she stared directly and painfully at him. I swear the byakugan was beginning to take affect. "You already gave up before the fight."

Hinata swept the room full of self-confidence and I openly stared before falling back onto the mattress of my bed. "It is too early in the morning for this." I groaned.

"She's right," Neji stated in disbelief. "You were right too, Tenten. I'm sorry."

Hinata gave a nod of approval before leaving the room.

"You don't need to apologize." I stated. I was struggling to keep up with all these sudden developments.

He stared at the ground. "Tenten, will you help me with something? I have an idea."

"Can you explain it to me?" I asked; a little blunt. Being a genius and prodigy and all I'm sure he could just spurt out ideas even this early. But me? No way.

He climbed over my body to look me straight in the eye. He leaned down and I couldn't think, I could barely remember to breath.

Neji's lips met mine with a hurricane of emotion. Heat spread across my face and made my limbs limp; unable to fight against the current underlying the kiss. It was sweet and terrifying at the same time.

It was chaste for a moment as I caught my breath; I wasn't the bold one in this situation.

His tongue ran along my lower lip as he deepened the movement, tilting his head and bringing a hand up to cup my face. I instinctively allowed him entrance as we let whatever had just happened unfold. His tongue swept my mouth as I pushed up against him. My own initiative taken to fight his dominance.

He pulled away, his eyes deadly serious under the musty haze I would come to know as lust. "I want to find a way to neutralize the curse."

This was the Neji I knew, fighting what he didn't want to accept and it made me overzealous as I boldly reached up to claim his mouth. His lips parted at my request and this time I was dominant, though he fought me in a dance that was extremely enjoyable.

Small shivers racked my body as I realized our compromising position. I pressed against him as I kissed him; finally falling back into the comfort of my pillow as my body protested my need to breath.

"I think I like that reaction." He whispered in my ear. I kissed his shoulder lightly, my lips grazing the surface of the skin. "I bet you do."

I was scared to say the next few words; but I never did have any regrets. "I think I might love you."

He didn't stiffen; he bent down to kiss my neck lightly. I knew that was as far as we would go today. Even though I was the only one who could get close to him in anyway, a physical relationship… One beyond the best friends we had been till yesterday; would take time. Everything Neji did, he took his time; he took his time so he got it right. He didn't push himself relentlessly like Lee and Naruto and even I was guilty of. He took his time to examine his limits and strengths; he always got it right, because he was always well prepared. A simple task may take him longer to start than anybody else I know. But he always gets it right.

I've never seen him mess up completely.

"I don't know how I feel. But you're precious to me." He replied. That was enough for now. That was his comfort zone and I wouldn't push it.

"You really should get out of bed," He observed, he got off me to stand beside the bed.

In response I just gave him a look and rolled to the side of the bed furthest away from him. "Hn." I heard, he used to use that syllable all the time, but more recently it had been replaced with more actual words.

I felt the covers shift and the mattress sink as he crawled in beside me. I rolled over to settle into his chest, his arms coming to rest around me. "What time is it?" I murmured, my words muffled in his Hyuuga robes.

"Noon. You fell asleep in the clearing and I was worried so I found you and brought you back to your home." Neji's voice was never soft, but it sounded pleasant. Less businesslike, I finally decided.

"Sorry." I mumbled. He didn't say anything and we both drifted off to sleep, a peaceful sleep. It felt good, balanced. I had hope.

I had hope that my arranged marriage wouldn't happen. That I could spend it with Neji, because as much as we still didn't feel about each other, as much as we didn't know. There was potential. And there was trust.

And somehow, it made my dreams decisively more pleasant.

#&#

A soft unsure voice woke me up. "Neji? Tenten?"

I opened my eyes and moved back to examine my position. There was no way I could get out with Neji so close to me, I was cuddled close to his chest, our legs entwined.

"Yes Hinata?" I asked. Neji really needed to wake up now. I was certain that our position was incriminatingly suggestive.

My lips brushed Neji's in a one sided kiss; it was bold but I felt it wouldn't be minded. His eyes started to open, half-lidded and decisively sexy. He flipped us so that I was lying beneath him, completely unobservant to our surroundings. Neji leaned over and kissed me properly. I heard a clicking noise but it didn't register.

"Good evening." I mumbled.

"I'm just going to l-leave now…" I heard from the doorway. "I'll be in the other room."

The figure above me sighed and stood up. I too moved from the bed, straightening my clothes and finger combing my loose hair. That must have been Neji's doing, it wasn't loose when I crashed from trauma in the clearing. For once in my life I felt rested, it was a good feeling.

His look was plain, even though the change of expression was minimal, I had been around him long enough to read his expression. Neji was asking me if I was okay with this development, the kissing and the closeness. He almost always knew what I felt, but I think he felt it was polite to make sure misunderstandings were not formed.

It scared me, how much I enjoyed what I had spent a lifetime chaffing, a girl with a strong dependency on a boy. I had always put dependency and Neji in the same sentence; but this was an intimate dependency. It was a little unnerving after it happened though it had felt too good to argue when it happened. I was just so jaded.

"I think I'm insane. I must be sick." I said in response to his unspoken question. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing. What _are _we doing?"

"I," He started; I waited for him to finish. "…don't really know."

It was terribly alien for him to say that, Neji who was so full of self-confidence. He was assured and ascertain of everything he did. He was decisive.

"Why is this so hard?!" I demanded, my voice threatening to crack. "Why does everything have to change?!"

I was jealous of our old relationship; I realized. The certainty of the situation then was what I wanted now.

"What do you want?" Neji asked. It was his way of asking me first, he wanted to know, he would never take the fall; he'd just hold me up or carry me home as I took it for him.

I had to make my answer true, he'd know I was lying before I opened my mouth, he knew me too well. Maybe even better that I knew myself… "I want…" I thought, sweet shivers running down my spine as I opened my figurative eyes to what I wanted. I wanted him to just be there, and not leave. I wanted him to kiss me and just hold me and tell me he'd save me from this fall too.

"I see." He stated. I blushed wildly as I realized that I had stated it all aloud.

He turned to face me, sitting on the edge of the bed while I stood in from of him. He spoke out. "I want you to agree to marry me."

I finally recognized the emotion hidden within his deep voice. It was jealousy.

"But you said…" God this sounded to cliché! "Are you just doing this because you don't want me to marry the Inuzuka?" I demanded.

His eyes widened slightly in real shock. Maybe he hadn't expected that reaction. "No. I'm just afraid that you won't be free."

Right, the caged bird. Unable to fly freely and released only as death set in. I still felt trapped; faintly oxygen deprived, unable to fully breathe.

"Hinata?" He called out, his voice sounding uncommonly beaten. "Your answer?" He asked to me as his cousin entered the door.

"Yes." I said; taking the one change I had in this situation for happiness. Neji was the one person I was completely comfortable with and I wanted this.

His look told me to revisit my doubts. I admonished all of them by thinking about Neji, selfless in suffering, and Neji only. He was decisive about this, and the kisses spoke for themselves. There was a trust and an attraction. We could build something from this.

I stared him right in the eye just like I had in the clearing, telling him that I too was certain. Just like then, he was making a surprising turn in our relationship. Still he had the grace to allow me to choose. With him, I was free, free to do anything and free to back out.

"I'll marry you."

My voice was simple and controlled, but inside I was rejoicing and excited.

He kissed me chastely and stood up. "Hinata," He addressed to figure in the doorway whom looked like she might either scream or faint. "Do you know how to bestow the curse on somebody?"

"Y-yes… but…" She was confused. She had just witnessed the shattering of any arranged marriage on my part.

He bowed his head; and I spoke for him, I suddenly came to the realization I knew him well enough to understand him. I had taken this for granted before, but it made me feel comfortable. "Can you help us neutralize it?"

She looked up, shocked for a moment, but she recovered without to much time passing. "I know how. I l-l-learned because I was a-afraid they'd use it on me…"

I recognized the fear, she was always called weak, and since Hanabi hadn't been sent to become a ninja away from the family, and was the obvious favorite… Well, Hinata had often been afraid she would become a branch member for her weakness. Just as Neji's father had been chosen for such a fate…

"You knew how?!" Neji looked up, genuinely surprised. Anger traced beneath his voice, I reached out to touch his arm.

Hinata nodded twice, her eyes a little fearful and a little determined. "But it's painful, and I don't k-know… …It w-would be d-dangerous."

Neji understood what she was saying and why she hadn't hold him till now. But still, he was angry. The muscles of his arm were tense under my hand despite the outward expressionless mask.

"Do you need anything?" His tone sounded forced.

She looked down and studied the floor, shaking her head. "It's a separate s-seal. I can use i-t-t on you b-but I d-don't know if it'll w-work."

Her stutter returned when she was stressed, I noticed. She worked so hard to be brave and even telling Neji something like this after all he had lived through, had to count for something.

"Right now?" I questioned, more than a little worried.

She looked up, looking a little more certain. "Tomorrow."

And within the fear and anticipation of tomorrow, she left the apartment to me and Neji.

I got off the bed and realized how hungry I was. In my small kitchen I found some sagashimi, I had made it to eat after training with Neji, so that would be yesterday. Only a day or two had gone by since I learned of my matrimonial arrangement.

I knew that if Hinata knew how to neutralize the curse, while still leaving the eerie green mark and whatever residue the byakugan saw, Neji would marry me. It was his promise.

If it didn't work; whatever cousin of Kiba's that I had been promised to would be informed of the marriage and I would be shackled. Chains that I didn't want to see would be forced upon me. I didn't want to look down the growing belly of a pregnancy at any point; I didn't want to be a housewife like my mother had maybe wanted. I wanted to be a kuniochi, I was a kuniochi, and with Neji I wouldn't have to give that up. Besides that; I really did want to be with him.

"Tenten?" He asked as I handed him some of the food too, sharing what I had, I could feel a real smile creeping up to grace my expression.

He sighed, a fascinating release of breath. "Thank you."

Tomorrow would be a decision that he would align to fate, it could make us or break us. Right now we were scared to take this any farther. We didn't want to move forward till we knew for sure we wouldn't have to move back.

Because I didn't want to have him to give him up; and I believed that he didn't want to say it a cage me when he knew here was no salvation.

Maybe we were entirely selfish after all.


	2. Part II

**Part II**

_I'll be there when your heart stops beating  
I'll be there when your last breaths taken away  
In the dark when there's no-one listening  
In the times when we both get carried away  
_(When your heart stops beating -+44)

Neji hadn't stayed at my place last night. He had returned to the Hyuuga complex to speak exclusively to Hinata. It made sense that Neji had returned there, but it didn't make sense how I secretly wished he had stayed. To most people, he was read as inexpressive and cold, but I was 'Tenten' and maybe that just explained all of it. I always had been good at reading his actions and gauging his reactions. It just made sense that I would be so _attuned_ to his nature. It both intrigued and disturbed me.

I liked being this close to him, but I didn't want to know the outcome if this seal went wrong, I didn't want to feel the pain. I didn't want to feel his pain at me being married off to somebody who didn't know me.

The clearing was the same as usual, but the mood was defiantly more… ominous, I finally decided. The two pale eyed Hyuuga's sat in an open ended triangle that I filled with my presence. Hinata was in simple white robes and Neji was without a shirt.

Hinata started performing the jutsu and spoken words of the seal, finally tracing a kanji over Neji's heart. The entire needed time was short, but I was on edge, terrified and spellbound.

When she reached up to put the mark of the seal on Neji's chest I almost screamed in frustration. I couldn't stand my helplessness. A blue light faded under Neji's skin, invisible. For the first time I realized that his family curse was exposed, no bandages to obscure it. It flared a bright light green for a second before Neji collapsed.

I stood up immediately, knowing Hinata had already finished her seal, her invisible seal.

"Neji?" I called; my voice cracking and ragged. My hands tried to find a pulse in his neck. It was there, but it was faint. It was traumatizing, all I could do was help Hinata lift his limp form and carry him as far as we could. For once I wished that Lee was around, he was so heavy. With determination taking its roots in my troubled heart; I reached down to lift him. Hinata helping me wordlessly, almost shyly as we maneuvered his form so he was over my back. His long hair fell over the shoulder his head rested on spilling over my front like a spider web of dark chocolate. It was hard to walk with my back hunched over to carry his extremely heavy body. I realized then just how much more solid he actually was in comparison to me. I was lithe, paper-weight.

Hinata made a nervous sound along with something about the village, she rushed on ahead. I presumed she was going to get me help.

Help came before I reached the gates; taking Neji from me as I stared with blank, disturbed eyes. I wasn't able to comprehend the actions but followed along with the medics you took him to the hospital. At least, with the white floors and antiseptic smell, I assumed it was the hospital.

I blankly followed until a closed door stopped me. Neji was behind the door. That's all I knew, that's all I needed to know. I opened my hand, fingers unclenching to reach for the handle. I was stopped. I didn't know what stopped me with the grip on my arm and I didn't care. I was angry all I could see was the door closing, and I wanted the door open. The door was supposed to be open, what if I lost Neji? What was happening in there!

Damnitt! I used my free hand to slam all of that uncertainty and rage and fear into whatever was stopping me from opening the door. My fist was stopped. Somebody said my voice but I didn't hear it over the screaming.

There was screaming everywhere, it sounded hollow and dead and it ravaged my mind. I wanted it to stop, all of it to just shut down and shut up.

My teeth bit down hard on my tongue and the screaming stopped momentarily. It was muffled, but it was my screaming I realized. I was screaming.

"Let me go to him!" I shrieked, regaining enough control in my frenzy to look up at my captor. It was the Hokage. I was always one to be respectful, that's me, Tenten. I never complained about a job or something I've been told to do. But to hold be back from him, I was livid. It made me reckless.

"Tenten," She tried to steady me.

Angry tears ran down my face and I fought her captivity before sinking to the floor in mental exhaustion. She finally let me go as I sank into a decline.

"It's all my fault! I shouldn't—"I cried, my voice devastating to my own ringing ears. I shouldn't have what? Shouldn't have even thought of persuading him to marry me, shouldn't have had hope that we could ever be together. Know what, maybe stupid fucking fate was right and it only liked you to think you could defeat it!

I shouldn't have pressed him or depended on him so deeply. I fucking broke him! This wasn't right, it was supposed to work, and it was supposed to give us hope. He was supposed to be here and love me like I fucking loved him! I loved him! The shock came with a settling dread and ecstasy.

I stood, twisting to pound on the door that had made Neji vanish to my eyes. I just had to break through the barrier keeping me. Strong hands restrained my wrists as I screamed and continued to struggle. I desperately clawed at the restraint with my aim of pounding through the door. My next scream was chilling. "If hadn't loved him……!"

Tsunade let go of me and I broke the door. Tears fell wildly down my face as I looked around the room. I spun to face Tsunade. "Where is he?!" I demanded.

She didn't reply but motioned me to come with her. I followed.

The room behind the door was a trauma room, and we weren't going to the mortuary. That was a good sign, I started to calm down. I pieced together my composure, with my appearance betraying all my efforts.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to…." I spoke quietly. Tsunade stopped a patients' room and opened the door.

I looked past her to the bed, walking quickly over to it. Neji laid there; sleeping but he didn't seem too worse for wear. His breathing was rhythmic and steady. It soothed me, calming me more that anything I could have done myself. I absently traced a finger along his cheek. I didn't even look up as Hinata stepped in and closed the door.

The Hokage must be worried. I opened my mouth to explain before closing it again.

"Tenten," A soft voice rang out, calling me from my painful reverie. "W-what happened t-t-to you?"

My voice sounded cold and vague, not entirely my own. "I was worried."

"I'm s-s-so-so s-sorry." she whispered, a stutter showing her nervousness.

Neji's lips moved in a silent sentence. I could read it on his lips; and I knew he was aware even if he was tired. _I wanted this._

"Hinata, did it work?" I looked at her finally. Her byakugan was creasing her veins with excess blood. Her concentration was one of murderous amount. I knew that she was testing her theory. I traced the curse mark on Neji's forehead; knowing it should be causing pain. But it wasn't. There was no hot glow of the active curse.

"It worked." Hinata stated simply. I felt joyous, it wasn't just a waste.

I leaned down to place a kiss on Neji's forehead. Whispering in his ear; "You're free."

_Thank you, _He fought to mouth before sleep over came him; stealing him into the darkness.

I had forgotten Tsunade was there until she spoke. "The actual medical diagnosis is over-exhaustion. But I don't think he just overworked himself."

There was an order there, to give up the details of the story. I was so full of relief at her words and Hinata's to feel any extra emotion. "Well, three—no four days ago now, you told me that I had to marry the Inuzuka in three weeks if I didn't marry anybody else sooner.

"Well, Neji and I came to a realization and an agreement and we decided that if there was a way to deactivate the curse, I'd be his wife." I stated, a little simply and plainly.

Hinata looked strait at the bed that Neji laid, her voice didn't even falter as she finished. "We found a way."

Tsunade looked over the whole scene. "He'll be fine as long as he doesn't overexert himself."

I nodded to show I understood. "Hokage-sama, could you please not tell anybody about the agreement or the curse?" I asked.

She nodded sharply with a 'yes' and left, swiftly removing her presence from the room.

Hinata looked from me to Neji. "Take good care o-of him. I'm g-going to tell H-Haishi-sama that h-he overworked himself in t-training." Hinata said. I knew she wouldn't be back till daybreak; if then.

I was so tired. I pulled a chair from a corner of the room over to the bed. Settling into it, I made a mental list of all the times Neji had sacrificed his safety for me. There were so many; I never even realized just how many. I felt myself slouch forward and knew it felt good to hear his breathing. Perfect breathing, light and steady; in-and-out, in-and-…

An obnoxious morning wakeup saw me throw a kunai at the door. I looked up. My eyes were bloodshot and my hair was loose and tangled. I knew I looked like a mess.

"Tenten-chan! Your beautiful youth is suffering." I wished the Kunai had missed the door and hit Rock Lee's head. He must be back from his mission, and as much as his cheerfulness and hard work was endearing, this early in the morning and anybody would feel like shutting him up.

"I leave for five days and come to return with amazing speed and I find that my rival is not well. Tenten-chan, are you not well too?"

I wanted to roll my eyes permanently into the back of my head. Instead I lay my head on the edge of Neji's hospital bed. I felt something warm and comforting grasp my hand. I looked up long enough to see Neji, his eyes closed and his expression peaceful, a rare thing. His hand had entwined itself around mine, and I didn't care whether or not it was conscious or unconscious as I laid my head back on the bed and let sleep claim me for a little while longer.

I woke up later on my own and discovered that Lee had either left or been banished. I didn't really care at the moment. I looked down at Neji; he was still so weak from the seal being evoked; but it was not an exhaustion he was fighting. He was accepting it, he seemed to welcome it with the knowledge it was a price and not a reminder.

He paid to be free from a household curse; he wasn't reminded that his birthright had cursed him with an unchangeable fate.

"Tenten-chan?" I heard a female voice ask, addressing me to the foot of the bed where the cherry-haired medic stood.

"Yes," I stated, even my voice seemed to match my inside emotion. It had been a traumatic week. "Neji-san should be able to go home in a few days, whenever he regains his strength. But can you make sure he drinks this when he wakes up?"

She gave me what I assumed was an herbal mixture for strength or restful sleep or something important. I nodded in understanding and she placed the cup on a table beside the bed. She turned to leave with one last worried glance at me.

"Tenten?" I heard. I rushed to the bedside, Neji's voice sounded beaten. As he fought to open his eyes, he gave up and finally just closed them. A small but apparent crease formed between his brows. I knew that look; it was the one he got when he could see that other people cared about him. "I'm sorry" He whispered. Fighting a loosing battle against sleep that was inevitable, I let him go. "I know," I leaned down to whisper in his ear. "I love you."

When I looked back up I noticed that Sakura was gone from the ward. Neji was sorry for making me worry, not for his actions and I recognized this. I felt completely and wholeheartedly connected to him.

I really did love him.

#&#

The rest of the day passed at an even pace. Neji did not wake up; even briefly and I often worried about the effects of the curse. When evening started to fall, he opened his eyes. I was instantly over at the bed, looking anxiously down at him. He reached up to touch my arm. He didn't speak it but his eyes said it, _I want you here._

"I need you to drink this." I stated, picking up the cup Sakura had left. I placed my spare hand behind his back and helped him sit up and drink it. He might have grimaced.

I helped him back down and put the cup back on the table. He looked so helpless, it was an unnerving feeling. I had never seen him so vulnerable and powerless.

His hand reached up to pull me down to him and I was guided by his light touch to lie down on the bed beside him. It wasn't uncomfortable and I curled into his chest. One of my arms reached up to loosely envelope his neck in an open embrace. Satisfied with my position; I let myself drift off to sleep.

I heard a girlish giggle and a very annoying. "Wouldn't it be great to blackmail them right now?"

I groaned and rolled, rolled right off the bed in fact. My body hit the ground with a thud and I stood up after a moment. "Ino-chan, I-I have a better version…" Hinata stated very clearly. She showed who I now recognized as Yamanaka Ino a photograph.

"This is the sweetest gossip anywhere, where was this taken Hinata?" She asked, I was about to go up and knock them both out to take a look at the photograph; but Neji started waking up and I was preoccupied.

"Careful," I voiced silently. I still wanted to know what the girls were doing here but I let it go when Neji discovered he could sit up on his own. He positioned himself to lean against the headboard.

Once he seemed settled I mentioned something to him about finding something to eat. He nodded in either defeat or agreement.

Hinata spoke again to Ino, no stutter in her mischievous tone. "In _her_ room; on _her _bed!"

I silently moved behind them, being the stealthy ninja I was, and observed the picture. It was of me and Neji kissing. "Hinata?" I half wined. "Why is _she _here?" I demanded.

Ino decided to answer for herself. "I heard that Neji was up here with you and figured you could use some flowers to brighten up your lives."

"You mean you just needed some nice juicy gossip and decided to come here to look for some?" I asked sarcastically. It was more something Neji would say than I, but maybe he was beginning to rub off on me. I wasn't sure if that last thought should frighten me or not.

"Naturally," She laughed haughtily, again I was tempted to roll my eyes into the back of my head and just leave them there for a while.

"And I b-brought food," Hinata declared while handing me two bentou boxes. One for me and one for Neji I assumed.

Although Neji was strong enough to sit up, I had to feed him. I alternated between eating my own food and feeding him his. Ino and Hinata chatted and Ino succeeded in making Hinata blush about some story. I was pretty sure I caught the word 'Naruto' somewhere though.

Neji moved his hand into a hand signal we had formed, a movement that was flat-handed and swept out and down a little. It meant _leave be._ I never thought we'd come to use it in anything other than missions, but he often proves me wrong, even if it isn't a conscious act.

"Okay." I nodded and put the bentou box that was his on the bedside table.

From there I helped him lay back down. I listened lightly to Hinata and Ino's conversation, without actually participating. I worked on finishing my own food.

Ino spoke next. "Woa, he didn't even say anything, Hinata, do you think they have created their own language or something?"

"Sometimes I w-wonder if they haven't…" She agreed without actually supporting Ino's theory. "I m-mean, she always knows what he is feeling even though he always looks blank, and his words are cold."

"Tenten, how do you do it?" Ino turned to me; I caught on immediately what they had been talking about. The subject himself was faking sleep, his lips pressed together in amusement.

"No idea, but Neji thinks it's a funny enough topic that he feels the need to fake sleep and eavesdrop." I commented dryly. One eye opened lazily to glare at me before said eavesdropper rolled onto his side, facing me. "Now he's annoyed at being called an eavesdropper because it isn't considered honorable in any situation. He's a little sickened at himself for finding the subject amusing in the first place; and he's fascinated to realize it's probably completely true."

His face had fallen from its fixed position into a very peaceful one. "And now he's asleep." I observed dryly.

"That's kinda creepy Tenten," Hinata said in a quiet voice.

"The fact she can understand him like that, or the fact that she just humanized Hyuuga Neji?" I rolled my eyes and went back to studying Neji's face.

Hinata answered the possibly rhetorical question; her face mortified. "Both."

If it weren't all in good humor I might have taken offence but I wasn't really up to form a rivalry right now. I just shrugged it off as they spoke a little more before saying good bye and departing. By then it was already evening.

"They're finally gone?" Neji asked from the bed. I was adding some plant food to the flowers Ino had brought. "These are pretty," I said vaguely.

"Tenten?" He asked, demanding my attention. "Umhuh." I answered affirmatively.

He looked straight at me and I met his gaze evenly; I could see the subject in his eyes, I already knew what he was going to say. He didn't want me to suffer the effects of this seal either. He didn't want me to go through that. I frowned, unable to deny the fact I wanted it; the pain wouldn't deter me.

"I don't want you to do it." He stated; his voice foreboding.

I was angered; my breath intake was starved as I looked at him with a raged disposition.

"Don't tell me I can't." I decided to take a different approach. I leaned over the bed, placing a fist to each side of the bed. His eyes were a little shocked as I leaned down to kiss him. He kissed back as much as possible while still lying down.

I pulled back a little to whisper "You don't really want to leave me to be married to somebody I don't want to marry. Its fate I marry somebody, it's my fight to choose you."

There was no way he could argue with that, everybody who knew him knew he used to be obsessed with fate, he still was, but in a different way.

He groaned more out of irritation than actual pain. "How did you get to be so insightful?"

I grinned in an odd sort of way; a little mischievous and a little bit cheerful. "I learned from the best." I thought for a moment. "And it's really just you."

"I feel special." His tone was sarcastic. Sarcasm had to be one of his favorite ways of keeping the conversation light.

I knew he could tell what people were, in general, thinking around him. The byakugan was very useful to read the intensions of others. It made his able to predict his opponent's next move, either in battle or espionage. More and more he had been sent on missions of intelligence, a spy for konoha's protection. Tsunade said that she trusted any jonin to be able to take anybody down, but infiltration required care and planning.

She did seem to keep us to the same sort of missions. The number of assassinations I had completed alone was higher than anybody else. I was told it was because I made the best use of projectiles. I didn't brawl; my technique was finer and silent.

I was shaken from my thoughts. "Tenten," Neji addressed me, I stared at him as he tried to sit up, and he succeeded. "Will you marry me?"

I smiled, for all the time we had discussed this option, he never did propose till now. There was no other option for me to choose but the obvious one. "Yes."

I gave him a chaste kiss, whispering _thank you. _

After that Neji lay back down; I knew I wouldn't point out the way his lips curved slightly. For him, it was a full fledged grin. It made me smile too. I checked the window and noticed how truly late it was.

It was dark outside. I sat down in the chair; leaning my head back. Neji shifted and I turned to look at him. "They're letting you go home tomorrow." I told him. His body language asked me to get on the bed with him and I relocated, compliant.

I felt myself drift off to sleep. Neji's chin against my forehead; it was safe and comfortable.

#&#

I woke when the first rays of the sun shone through the window. Neji was sitting on the side of the bed, haven already awoken. I moved off the bed, taking in my appearance. I defiantly needed a shower; and my hair was all over the place. Even though it's almost always up in panda buns, it really is long.; down to my waist, in fact.

Neji started to get off the bed; I didn't bother to stop him. I knew that if he couldn't stand and walk, they'd never let him go home today. On top of that, three days of bed-rest is almost torture to someone who likes things physical. My mind relayed as I thought that, bad, bad choice of words. Damnit!

Trying to occupy myself with less suggestive thoughts, I carefully watched as the Hyuuga stood, took a step, and steadied himself. Then he took another one.

I tried to read the expression on his face. "What is it?" I asked, he didn't look to be in pain but I wasn't quite sure.

"How it must be for you to watch this and I knowing I'll get my turn to watch you." He said, a little bitter, full of suffering.

"Neji, I don't want anybody to know." I said, in reference to everything. I didn't want the village to know I was in love (though it hadn't been admitted) with Neji. I didn't want them to know that the Hyuuga clan was to burden me with their curse for marrying him. And I especially did not want them to know that last part.

"Hinata will know." There was the unspoken darkness in his voice, the 'but.'

I shrugged. "We'll swear her to secrecy."

"Tsunade won't talk if I ask, and neither will my family. They like their secrets." From his mouth, it was not a compliment; it was a tool we would use. The Hyuuga's barely told each other what was going on, let alone anybody else. Though with a clear mind and the byakugan; they really didn't have to, it was easy enough to figure out basic information. The byakugan outshone the even the Uchiha sharingan in respect of insight.

I nodded. Keeping something like this secret was going to be a bit of work. "Where will we live?" I asked. I knew full well what the answer would be, but wanted to make sure.

He knew that I already knew; but explained it out of respect, not kindness. There was no kindness when his family was under discussion. "The complex. The Hyuuga are possessive, what is Hyuuga stays Hyuuga."

"They don't have you anymore; let them think they do." I whispered as I moved to kiss him.

He kissed me back though the exchange remained brief. His hand untangled the mess of my hair. "We really need to find a new style of hair for you."

I laughed against his lips, my breath hot. "You need to let yours down more often."

"Deal?" He asked, compromising. He knew he got the easy side of the request. I wouldn't be wearing my cute little panda buns anymore. Mind you, change was not always a bad thing.

I gave him a chaste kiss before pulling away and saying; "Deal."

"Your family won't object to me marrying you, will they?" His eyes flashed, the mood changed automatically. Like when your hand touched a hot stove, and before the burn, you just _knew_. It was sorrowful and painful.

"Not as long as you are a fighter they can cage. Haishi-sama knows I would _never _marry a Hyuuga girl, so they really have no choice. It's my choice that counts, Tenten."

"I'll remember that," I stated, a little dizzy from the high intensity.

A ghost of a smile graced his features for a moment. I treasured it; back in our genin days I would have died from the incredulity. Now, I just took it in as one of the rarest, most beautiful sights I may ever see.

He started walking towards the door, his ghost smile barely evident on his face. White and black robes swaying and his hair loosely falling over his back, I was nearly captivated.

"We go see Tsunade first and then my family," I got up as Neji declared our own little personal mission, defiant towards any idea that this wouldn't work. Completely determined to see it through; even if it was one of the hardest things I'd ever done. I'd fought and killed bandits and rescued scrolls from the deepest of traps, but it was never personal. It was so easy to throw my life away for the good and will of Konoha. Yet, it was harder to admit that I was a ninja who was in love. Ninja were dutiful and strong and brave and never cried; it was hard to let my emotional side rule. I think Neji had some difficulty with it as well. At the same time, without Neji, I was not a ninja. I wasn't a kuniochi who could laugh in the face of death, like he taught me to. I was a girl holding a weapon at arms length hoping it would be quick and painless. He made me strong; and this would make us stronger.

Maybe we really did learn something along the way.

The walk was short and we didn't really talk much, somehow, I wasn't really nervous. Neji was beside me and would be for a long time; it made me brave.

I watched his hands, fascinated as he drew back the door that was the entrance to Tsunade's office. Fighter's hands, but they were still softer than mine. I would force him to cough up the secret later in private. My mind suggested many ways I could challenge him; but I banished them to the back of my mind before I was forced to blush.

We stood as Tsunade assessed us. I realized nobody but Neji had ever seen me with my hair loose and I dragged a hand through it.

"I want to tell you that you will have to disregard my arranged marriage." I stated.

She looked at me without too much in the way of expression; she already knew. This was just formality. "You found somebody?"

"But we ask you keep it secret." Neji stated, indirectly answering her question with our request.

She turned to me, an eyebrow raised. "Hyuuga Neji?"

I was adamant. "Yes."

For her part, she appeared curious but not surprised. "Will you keep this a secret?"

She nodded to Neji, purely business. She loved playing matchmaker too much to risk exposing us and canceling this development, personally I believed her word was true.

Neji reached over and took my hand, swiftly allowing us exit from the room. He was apparently satisfied with the word of the Hokage. I quickened my pace next to him. We descended upon the Hyuuga compound with purpose, but also a small amount of intimidation.

Before entering the formal office building of the head family Neji pulled us both into a side building. I noticed that the whole time we had been outside he had kept his hand on a kunai. The distrust here was in the air, a tense uncomfortable existence. In this room we were in though; the tense atmosphere vanished. It was comfortable and clean. A fairly large bed was centered in the room with plain white linen sheets to cover its expanse. There was a cabinet against the far wall, and a window that faced east. There were no real distinctive features but I knew this was Neji's bedroom.

The owner of the room was opening the cabinet with a key from his kunai pouch. Whatever was in there was not something open to everyone, but not valuable enough for a guard.

He gave me an outfit that was a rich creamy white with a black apron tie. He took another for himself and also pulled out a brush which he placed on the bed.

"That's all I have, change into that, and then we will go see Haishi-sama," Neji stated. I turned my back to him as he turned his to me and we switched our dirty clothes. When I was sure he must be finished I turned around.

"Come here," He commanded, but his voice seemed gentle to my ears. I walked towards him, curious as I always was.

He walked behind me to shamelessly run the brush through my hair. All the dirt was swept away from the movement of the comb. The dark brown was brought to shine. I could feel the teasing movement as his hands lightly brushed my back through his efforts. In spite of the situation I smiled with a playful intension before turning to face him. He didn't look fazed; he had already sensed the change in my mood.

"No fair!" I challenged, mocking tones in my words. "I didn't get to brush your hair."

He raised an eyebrow at my choice of argument. I tried to snatch the brush from his hands but he raised it higher than my reach; I jumped, he moved. I tackled him. I sprang up like a cat and my hands fell on his shoulders. He let me pin him down without much of a fight. Instinctively my legs pinned over his thighs to prevent him getting up. My hands locked his wrists against the floor and I suddenly realized how close we were.

Dark wisps of hair that were my bangs brushed his forehead. "You can't fight me." I whispered. I leaned to the side to nuzzle his hair. His lips brushed my neck appreciatively.

"Do you want to bet?" His lips mouthed against my neck, gooseflesh rising at his touch. I moved so I was facing him again

Without waiting for an answer he reached up to kiss me. I got lost somewhere when his tongue ran along my lower lip, demanding entrance. Without any hesitation, my lips opened to allow him entrance.

He pulled away and my hands twitched as I tried to move. I wanted to be closer to him.

"I win," was his choice of words. He had flipped us over so he had me pinned to the floor.

I almost laughed in incredulity. "When don't you?"

"Neji-nii-san?" I heard from the doorway. Damn her boldness! She opened the door, wide eyed, before either of us could switch positions.

For Hinata's part, she didn't point out our position. Her foot scuffed the floor and she said "I thought if I escorted you to the head complex, you wouldn't be questioned."

Neji stood up and helped me up, straightening my clothes as I did. There were the makings of a fine Hyuuga glare on his face. I soothed the lines from his face with fingers that traced it away.

Hinata turned and we followed her out of the bedroom. Neji closing the door behind us.

"By the way, you aren't newlyweds yet." She tossed back, her confidence showing. I couldn't stop the glare of Hyuuga Neji this time. It was more of an irritated expression than a violent one.

"You seem annoyed that she interrupted." I whispered, Hinata could hear, but she would know the words weren't for her.

He gave me a look that was hard to decipher and kissed my forehead. Neji did what he wanted; he was unstoppable. Many people believed he was stoic and businesslike; but that's how he often wanted to behave. His expressions were miniscule, but they did show. He wasn't completely impassive.

We walked under a somber air, this was a do or die situation. Hinata slid open the door to the main house complex. We entered wordlessly, Hinata walking ahead to sit on one of the cushions beside Hanabi. She was the oldest, the heir, but Hinata was still the Hyuuga reject. From her clothes and lifestyle to her physical appearance, even her show of expression and idealisms; she was too different. Her father and sister both appeared with their long brown hair and traditional robes.

Hinata had the netting that many ninja favored. It showed over her arms as her dim violet vest covered her midsection. Her pants were dark and went over her ears, as deep navy as her shoulder length hair.

Neji stood a little ahead of me; I could feel Haishi's pale eyes scrutinizing me. Picking me apart the same way Neji's gaze seemed to put me together. I raised my head defiantly.

"Haishi-sama, I request Tenten and I be married," Neji proposed, his voice hard and cold. "And I request it be a quiet affair."

"Then she will be a branch member," He either warned or observed, his voice equally cold. A warning of the curse that, upon marriage; would be mine.

A curt nod from the prodigy was given on this account.

Haishi accepted this from him. "And your bride?" Hanabi piped up.

Neji looked directly at her; his tone was firm and definite. "Tenten; a Konoha kuniochi of ninja decent." He appeared thoughtful for a moment. "My teammate and friend."

I recognized surprise within the byakugan eyes. At the mention of Neji declaring he had a friend; it was unheard of. His reputation as a lone, cold ninja was well known. It was strange for him to mention that he had a friend; I was touched. I knew I had always considered my teammates as friends; but Neji had never voiced the connection in public, ever. And with the history held against his family, particularly his uncle, he had to mean it.

"When?" Haishi asked lightly, in reference to our secret union.

Neji's voice was deadpan. "Tomorrow"

I had no objection to this development, and decided to let the events play out. I was less than a day away from the curse of the Hyuuga branch line, why nobody married in. I would be a caged bird, and Neji would find a way to set me free.

Haishi nodded in a formal manner, letting Neji grasp my wrist as we bowed and took our leave. Neji steered me back to his bedroom.

"You'll stay here tonight," He declared turning to me as I smiled. I wanted to be here. The mood seemed to change and he leaned in and kissed me.

"I might just be here every night. Think you can handle that?" I asked; my voice breathy.

He looked at me, pure male arrogance on his face. "I always win."

"That won't discourage me from fighting." This time I took his mouth, my tongue sweeping over his, my turn, my possession.

"You guy's need to stop acting like that. I go out of my way to do a favor for Tenten, and I come back and see this!" Hinata ranted in the doorway. Neji rolled his eyes, and I stared openly. I wondered just how much time Hinata had been spending with Ino. She seemed so comfortable.

She looked over to me, ignoring Neji as he ignored her. "I went to your house and picked up your usual clothes. Or do you want to walk around in Neji's robes forever? If you want to keep this thing secret, you're not doing a very good job."

I flushed a little, Neji's clothes were comfortable. It had honestly crossed my mind to steal a pair, I was afraid I had discovered a new fetish. It wasn't just the fact they were movable and easy to get on, it was the fact they smelled like Neji. Like green tea and forest earth. He was domestic and wild.

"Thank you." I smiled at her as I took the robes and put them on top of Neji's cabinet.

She smiled at me and I swear she child-likely stuck her tongue out at Neji when she left.

Neji slid the door shut behind her, I heard a distinctive "Hn." It was the kind that meant 'good riddance.' There really was a difference between the nondescript syllable he so often employed.

As I curled up underneath the linen of his soft white blanket, he looked back at me. "You get a new hair style tomorrow" Neji observed, slowly walking over to join me.

I stuck my tongue out at him, earning a face of open disgust. I laughed. He smiled again, a light turning of the corners of his mouth, his eyes softer. The unique lilac of his eyes flashed beautifully as he dimmed the lights; letting them slowly diminish.

There was only the moonlight through the window. He lifted the covers of the side of the bed I left for him, sliding under the linen and leaning his head on the pillow. His hair was loose as I combed a finger through it.

"You're on my side of the bed." He observed; his mood was still light.

I looked at him with triumph. "Then I win?"

He traced a finger absently against my lips, his eyes focused on the flush that rose to my cheeks, seen to the byakugan eyes. Something nobody else would ever get to see.

"Not really," He mumbled as we drifted off to sleep.


	3. Part III

_Note: I tried very hard to make it work. This is my least favorite 'part.' _

**Part III**

_Somewhere, somehow  
We've been denied  
Hand in hand we walk; pretending  
Defending; while our souls are tied  
_(Denied — Our Lady Peace)

I awoke to the bright warmth of a new sun. This time I did not fall off the bed, a fact of which I am proud. The white blanket around me was wrinkled but Neji was not beside me. I stood up slowly, and without grace. A door I hadn't noticed before was ajar and I could hear faint noise coming from it. I investigated the separate room with interest.

Neji was sleeping at a desk, scrolls half open and piled messily over its expanse. As I approached he lifted his head, apparently awake.

"Good morning," He said, his voice muzzled.

I picked up some of the scrolls and placed them in a pile to the side. After a moment, he helped me, putting ink and pens in drawers with some of the blank scrolls. "Do you always do this?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It's just business stuff; reports for different missions and economic values."

"Still…" I trailed off. There was no reaction or reply, so I left it alone.

Neji stood up and seemed to bottle up the weariness I believed I had seen in his stance. He looked older, jaded. Our way of life was hard; our choices seemed to only make things harder. We were fighters though. Destined to swim against the current, fated to die honorably and tragically, or at least that's what we set out to do. But now, we were getting older and life seemed to take a toll.

Pasts that would always come back to haunt us, ghosts that never seemed to really die.

"The ceremony is today." Neji sighed, in my reverie he had walked over to a small window. He stared out as if he was scrutinizing the glass; not gazing at the sunrise.

"When?" I asked.

"Evening; female branch members will come at noon to prepare you." He stated calmly. Neji sounded resigned.

I sat down on the chair from the desk. "I feel like I should be sorry or happy, but I just…." I tried to phrase my mood. "I don't feel anything" I sighed.

It seemed wrong that this dependency morphed into this; a savage bond. It was beautiful and delicate like soft woven lace. And at the same time it was violent and terrorizing as a kunai in the heart.

"Is it wrong for me to rejoice within fear?" I asked, almost rhetorical.

Neji looked a little disturbed at the thought, though very little was offered in the change of expression, I was hypersensitive to his emotions. Maybe they even became mine; it was just so tangled.

I wanted this, but that didn't mean it was right. I could back out now, end it. I could take the honest and simple way out.

Still, I looked over at Neji; I couldn't throw it away and betray him. I would do this; take the fight and the pain.

"Do you want this?" He asked, sensing my doubt. We were so attuned to each other, and that alone wasn't worth giving up.

"I want this." I said affirmatively, my voice coming out with a confidence I rarely commanded. This is who I was becoming.

The morning passed very slowly, lazily. I lay in the circle of Neji's arms as we planned out our secrecy plan.

We settled on an idea of faking a mission. This was going to be hard, we were close, but we couldn't show our affection in public. We would leave and diminish the effects of the curse I would receive. Then I would change my hair to cover the bandages. It would be out of its odango style; I would be changed, for all interests; a Hyuuga. Hyuuga Tenten.

At noon Neji led me to a part of the complex that served as a bathhouse. Silent, stoic women bathed and dressed me, their faces blank. I secretly wondered if they weren't just animated puppets. Their manor was that of resigned slaves. I vowed never to fall into their conduct. I would be no silent mindless female.

I would be proud of my… husband. It was so strange to think the word, not hard, just strange. I would be proud of Neji, and strong in myself. I wouldn't openly rebel, I just wouldn't fall silent. I wouldn't forget who I was.

A silk kimono-style dress was wrapped around me. An obi was secured around my waist in a rich silvery black. The cream of the kimono was cold, reminding me of starless nights. It seemed to have an icy, unforgiving edge in the black inky swirls. It was obviously some symbolic pattern, but never having worn a kimono before, I didn't recognize anything specific.

Navy seemed inter-stitched in the black; it gave the image of a harsh bride, the whole impression was icy. I held my arms as they adjusted the long sleeves straight. It took me more than a few tries to discover how to properly move in the thing.

I didn't hate it but it looked strange on me, these colors. The cream and black were of the Hyuuga clan. It made me feel marked; like property. I shrugged it off since it was Neji I was being bound to. We weren't ready to get married, we didn't have that relationship, but I felt we were headed there. Choices were limited; I tried to make the best ones.

One of the silent Hyuuga's led me to a chair and requested I sit; gesturing with a servant's attitude. Her head was bowed in submission and her hands seemed to communicate her form instead of actual words, she seemed so inoffensive.

A second women, a girl really; younger than me and as mild as a blade of grass… She was already broken before the fight. She took a brush in hand and they combed my long coffee-colored hair.

They sheered the bottom of its split ends and straightened the cut. Aside from my bangs the waist-long expanse was perfectly straight, a waterfall that cascaded fully before the bottom, a sheer line.

With special rags they starved the strands of water, drying it efficiently. A silver colored jeweled pin was brought out. Gathering a roll of curls it was woven through to hold the gathered loops. The chime of beads that hung from the end of the pin swung lightly, a tiny ringing that probably only I could hear. Little midnight and onyx jewels laced together with tiny silver beads, a barely noticeable ornament in my dark hair.

Dark khol and powders were applied to my face as I ignored the fact that if none of this would have happened I would be out training. I would be wearing comfortable clothes I knew how to get on and off. Neji would be huffing, irritated at something or other and using the negative energy to fight me.

For now I was resigned to (hopefully) the one time I would ever have to use the 'manors and etiquette' training on anything other than a mission. Kuniochi were really not expected to be delicate and polite, it made a fantastic cover.

I was directed to a looking glass that showed my reflections. I looked icy; my makeup showing a violent image of dark and light, a screaming contrast. It was fierce, I realized. Strong black and midnight hues over a cool cream; I looked very, for lack of a better word, Hyuuga.

It was completely the image of the stoic clan of fighters. There was a fan stashed in my obi, matching in black and blue with a razor edge that would slice through flesh and bone. It didn't bother me that the contrast was the colors of a bruise. Next to the fan was a scroll, I wouldn't walk unarmed. That wasn't unexpected.

If I were to try to assassinate Haishi, he believed Neji would stand in the way, defensive of his curse. The curse that didn't exist; but Haishi didn't know that. There was no desire to kill Haishi and induce the unjust security. Hinata would vouch for me, I guessed.

Not that I was considered much of a threat. I was loyal to Konoha and had no clan that could use me to steal secrets.

From there my reverie was burst and I was brought to another building. My escorts glided, I have to say I more marched. Or at least next to them I might be considered marching, it probably was just a somber walk.

This building was tall and only seemed to contain one room. There were seating arrangements, but the stiff-looking chairs were empty. A long table was at the end of the hall, seated with four very stoic occupants. The branch member who was older showed me where to sit before leaving.

There was an empty chair on Haishi's right, and from where he sat at the head of the table, I assumed it was for his absent wife. Hanabi was at his left with Hinata beside her. It was a clear show of favoritism. The chair across the youngest sister was also empty, I assumed in memory of Neji's father. Neji and I were seated across from each other. I was seated aside Hinata, him scowling alone on the other side of the table. I doubted he was impressed. Haishi was wearing a 'pleased with himself' classic Hyuuga expression, and I wasn't doubtful about were Neji picked it up.

The entire dinner was eaten in silence. I was dubious about eating what was on the plate, having never had to eat so formally. I settled on a combination of watching Neji and Hinata and copying their manors.

Hinata seemed so openly rebellious and carefree. I finally decided defiantly not to copy her when Haishi sent her an intimidating glare. She pretended to not having notice and continued doing what was so outwardly bad. It was like watching Naruto during school.

I was about to voice a remark about her Naruto-like manor and reconsidered on the dread-filled expression from Hyuuga Neji. It wasn't much aside from a tightening of his mouth and a single crease in his eyebrows. But having seen it before in situations involving Lee's mouth on missions, I reconsidered.

It was hollow, silent. I found it very unnerving; it was no wonder Neji barely said anything. He was practically raised not to. Looking back on Hinata's speech patterns, she honestly wasn't much better.

By the time we had finished, the sun was crimson over the horizon.

The Hyuuga's walked and I followed a few steps behind Neji. It was kind of a ceremony. But it was soundless, and filled with unspoken raw emotion. Neji watched me with a kind of pain, distress showed on his face. Hinata was even more openly distraught. Her father watched her hawk-eyed as she turned to me.

Her hand reached up to create a line, invisible over my forehead. Then they were behind her back, her elbows still though I know her hands were working a jutsu. A torturous expression was on her face as the burning cut into my brain. I bit my lip in pain as a drop of blood dripped from my mouth. As suddenly as it was there it was over.

The aftermath was the feeling of an open wound on my forehead. I knew what it was, and from Neji's pained expression, he knew too. He knew what I had felt, and was feeling. He had already experienced it.

He reached out to hold my hand, Haishi was heard reading writes from a scroll, but I barely heard.

We signed our consent in blood, a document. A marriage bond. I turned to him, pain evident in both our eyes. I could not hide my emotions that well. Not involving something like this.

He led me back to his bedroom as Haishi and his two daughters parted ways. The branch line was on one half of the walls, the western side where the sun fell. The main house occupied the east enclosure, the living side, where the sun rose.

They were believed to be destined for greatness, power and the like. Rising to take their name to unseen limits; or they were supposed to. Neji surpassed them without anything but natural ability, nature versus nurture.

I sighed as Neji put his hands on my shoulders and sat me on the bed. From there he found some bandages in a drawer in the second room. I stared at the grains of the floorboards.

He sat down and shifted me so I sat in his lap, my head leaning into his shoulder. He removed the hairpin and let my hair fall loose. I opened my eyes when his body seemed to shift. Neji held out his hands, I could see two tiny black leather ties in his palm. The ones I put my panda buns up with. I smiled; he knew that I liked things familiar.

He lightly pulled part of my hair into a ponytail. A small portion raised above the rest. He parted the ponytail and made it two, tying both pieces of hair off evenly; a small ribbon of coffee-color falling down on each side.

"It feels so light, I kind-of prefer it," I murmured. The two ponytails kept the hair that fell into my face away. But they left my long mass of hair to fall down my back.

"I thought you might," I heard.

Cool hands wove a bandage over my forehead wrapping it around my head, skipping underneath the new ponytails.

"Wait a moment," I got up, disregarding the arrogance in his voice, he hated to feel pain. So he tried to shut it out. I found the looking glass and lifted my eyes to the pale green, half-bandaged mark on my forehead. It was such a strange sight.

Somehow still, it looked right. "I'm sorry."

It was not Neji's nature to apologize or do anything like this but it wasn't quite the right sentiment. I wasn't sorry.

"Don't be," I turned, placing the looking glass on the bed, sitting down myself. Neji came over and joined me.

"I chose this, remember?" I asked, a little forward. "Besides, I'm yours."

"Hn?" He questioned, unsure.

I looked straight at him. "What is Hyuuga, stays Hyuuga."

He seemed to lose less of the tension. He laid back on the bed, pulling me with him till I was on my side next to him. Our proximity was easily, lazily, closed by my actions of scooting closer to lean my head on his chest. He kicked the covers from the foot of the bed to fall over us. There was a disregard for our formal clothes and my bandages. The mark still felt like an open wound, but I chose to ignore it.

"Hyuuga Tenten." He mused to himself; I made an agreeable noise at his reflection.

He leaned into me, to kiss my lips lightly. It was chaste and teasing.

The disposition changed; from the dark moodiness to the teasing and playful... His hands edged over my hips as mine went to twine around his neck. He kissed me with more of an edge, his tongue sweeping the depths of my mouth.

I pulled away, warm hot breath spiraling between us. He reached up so his fingers could trace lightly over my newly formed scar. "I'm sorry," He murmured. We were so close that his lips brushed mine as he spoke. Little tremors, which I was certain he could feel, ran down my spine. I shuddered closer into him. "Me too," I agreed. He would understand. Neji's insight was remarkable; very much a favorable trait. I kissed him lightly; nothing would advance from this point tonight. We played it safe and sure; positive we wouldn't offend the other in our shows of affection. Then there was the part where we couldn't show our relationship in public. It wasn't something we were comfortable with our enemies or even friends knowing.

It was a mosaic work of disaster and disturbance in our lives. Yet I could not bring myself to hate the development. Maybe it was just my character.

"I love you," I whispered, my voice coming out naturally; easily. It surprised me, but I realized how true it really was. The complete truth was within those words, and it scared me, this dependency.

Neji pulled me a bit closer to reassure me, solidifying the whole idea. "That boy, Naruto, he told me that you had to have a precious person. Or you are not a fighter, because nobody can fight for only themselves…—You are my precious person." He cut himself off, finishing. He never did say a lot; but that speech singled me out as an answer.

"You love me?" I asked, trying to lighten to mood. He sensed my efforts; once again I was thankful for his gift. I never did like it when things that were said aloud got to deep. But Neji was deep, dynamic. Neji seemed to be able to say everything and nothing you didn't already know, and make it sound brilliant. Ordinary people couldn't do that. Then again, Neji never was what anybody would call ordinary. I was ordinary; I had no inhumane talents; no amazing speed or mastery of incredible jutsu. There was no fabled bloodline talent or any talent at all for me to inherit or discover.

I was invisible. Neji made a growling noise. "So what?" his chest rumbled in reply. "I love you. Stop doubting yourself and get some sleep."

I only smiled and laid back down; settling in comfortably beside him.

I had had time to get used to the idea of the curse, as had Neji. It wasn't so much of a deal, maybe we knew it was coming all along. Maybe we were equalized, no barriers between us anymore.

#&#

I woke up to warm arms around me. It was comfortable, a naïve kind of security. It shouldn't comfort me to have somebody so close. Reared as a ninja, I had a little bit of memory before the academy, I was taught defense, how to run without getting tired. It was all simple stuff. I never let anybody close enough to kill me, with the rare exceptions. My genin team was allowed close; I trusted them.

I trusted Neji, and now it truly showed. "I'm hungry." I murmured into his chest.

Neji sat up; leaving me wrapped up in the blanket. He dressed and I made the bed before getting dressed myself. Working on missions, we had to have enough confidence to change and show bare skin in front of each other. Mostly because both Gai-sensei and Lee helped everybody find their inner modesty. And made them cling to sanity.

So Neji and I had hung close, staying around with each other to heal the other when one of us got hurt, or both. By now; there wasn't a part of my body Neji hadn't seen.

I slipped on my rose colored shirt and capris. Neji came over and fiddled with my hair. He slipped it up into those two thin pony tails.

"Do I detect fetish?" I asked. His hands lingered longer than necessary in my hair. He only grunted as he retrieved the bandages. I took it as acquiescence with embarrassment.

He finished wrapping the white material and tied a dark, thick ribbon over it before securing my forehead protector.

He finished by kissing my neck tenderly. His lips gently trailed over my skin, licking and nipping over my pulse point.

I relaxed before we both stood up to form a persona of distance. Together we left the complex; easily jumping over the wall that made the place a practical fortress. Both of us took a linen bag of supplies.

We were walking through town to seek out the Hokage when we were mentally ambushed by Hinata. She seemed to check that there was nobody else around before casually walking up to us. "You two. Lovebirds!" She called, still very lightly. She made sure she had our attention as she approached, obviously to talk to us.

"I already saw Tsunade; I've got my own mission. Anyways, she assigned you two to your own mission. It's all a fake thing of course.

It's just to provide your cover. Uhm…" Hinata trailed off; she cocked her head in consideration. "She also said to say it will blow up in your face if you get Tenten pregnant, Neji-ni-san."

Neji looked livid, his glare was homicidal. Hinata just waved it off and turned to leave. I let her go, holding Neji's arm so he wouldn't hurt her.

She really did have some spunk in her. She had changed. Hell, we had all changed.

He seemed to relax a little as we strode off, a burden in our hearts and heads. I rapidly dropped my hold on his arm as we were approached yet again.

This time it was the girl who Tsunade had taken on; Sakura. I didn't know her personally, but from Lee's never-ending crush, I could easily recognize her. I often wondered why she didn't change the color. It was an obnoxious color for a kuniochi, it made her so easily recognized. I was more into the stealth than her, I guess. I blended in, an assassin, and not a healer like she was. A poison specialist; an easy mark but a hard target, she did have speed.

I never took her as a 'brute force' fighter, but that's what she had become. Maybe it came along with that temper; just like Tsunade's.

"The Hokage-sama asked me to give you this if I found you before you left." She said; it was very business-like. It was the same concoction that she had requested Neji drink when he was in the hospital.

"Thank you Sakura-chan." I bowed slightly.

Neji even gave her a short, dismissal bow. Which surprised me a little, and the healer even more. She was quick to return it and leave.

"You seem different, happier, less self-centered." I observed, cocking my head inquisitively.

"Maybe I just want to impress you." He teased, dryly making a joke.

I laughed a little. "You would never want to do that. Outdo me, maybe."

"No. Never." He said. His tone was very full of sarcasm.

We faced forward, walking beyond even the outskirts of town. We searched; finding an appropriate cave for this mission, and then mentally preparing ourselves for the brutality of our sacrifice.

The forest around us glowed with the brightness of day, but the cave we found was filled with a dark, intimidating silence. It was the weight of knowledge that destroyed our anxious excitement for freedom.

Freedom, for both of us came at a cost and could never have been achieved alone.

The bandages were lifted from my forehead; Neji's eyes were shining with tears he refused to shed. My forehead protector was already on the ground, it was discarded.

His hands began to move in the practiced jutsu that had been Hinata's creation. As scared as I naturally was; I was seeking salvation in this action. This was a remedy for the searing pain of being a slave to a name; a twisting of power. It struck me that my life was one huge lie.

The pain struck harder than any realization. It was pain in body, a tearing, shredding of my mind. It felt like my thoughts were being stripped from my mind. The pain was blank. It was not hot and angry, or cold and vengeful. It was simple pain, not the kind anybody inflicts on you, but the sting of a scrape. An accident, it felt like an accident. I just wanted to give up to the feeling.

I wanted to just let the memories it was tearing away; fall away. I wanted my mind to be washed of all the mental pain I had ever endured. I wanted so badly to forget everything.

"Tenten!" I heard sharply. It sounded panicked. I felt as if I were coughing and retching. I didn't even know who was speaking. And that scared the hell out of me. I needed to know who cared enough to call me from the flood of this reverie. But to know I would have to want my memories, my whole mind back. I would have to want the pain.

"I love you." I heard. It was a whisper, a faint voice dripped with sadness and desperation. A smile before the ultimate destruction; somebody who laughed in the face of death. I needed to know who loved me; so I took the pain back. I begged the power for the pain. I pulled and tugged mentally on my floating memories. Claiming back all of them; the bad with the good. It was like fishing in a river full of pieces of my mind, they all wanted to get away. But I took back every single last one.

I claimed the death of my parents with the torture of loneliness I had felt at the time. I embraced the loneliness. I took back everything Neji had ever said and did to me. When he said I was weak and worthless. When he hurt me. When he became wise, and got under my thick, well preserved skin. I took back the one where he kissed me; the rush of lust following; the emotion of taking it back into my head.

Only one piece of my mind was aloud to flow away. A green ribbon that had been stitched through all of them was removed. I had claimed my mind as mine, not as the Hyuuga curses'. This pain and weight was all mine, and the good parts, the kisses and the fights I had fought and learned from. They were all mine too. I had everything back.

For the first time in my life I was Tenten. Just Tenten. I had a story to tell and a path to walk. And even if I chose the path that was a little too far in the bush and I got lost. I could be found again. Because somewhere; there was a man I completely trusted. Somebody I loved, and if I got lost he could bring me back again. Neji.

I felt safe here, with nobody around but Neji, I trusted him to protect my body, weakened by my mental fight. But for those days I would rest, I had been made stronger. My chakra felt tougher, like sinew or cord instead of the coil of thread I usually felt when I reached for it. It felt hotter too, as if the thin windy feeling I often felt was replaced with a billowing fire. A hearth of power within my body, I wanted to open my eyes to the power. I wanted to see with the chakra, because it felt different; and this strange compelling feeling told me that was right.

So I did. I opened my real eyes to the world, feeling adamantine, unbreakable. The world seemed different to my powerful eyes. It seemed breakable. I could see the being that was Neji in front of me. But what I saw was not the human sight. It was different but I embraced it. Every muscle and vein was visible.

I could see every organ within him as he breathed; I could see his chakra flowing throughout his body, slow and even.

Behind him, or even through him, my eyes seemed to move without moving. It was as if I could feel the presence of the rocks that made up the cave, the trees around it, I could see so powerfully. I was hypersensitive and aware of everything. It didn't scare me. I wanted it.

But the hot strange chakra seemed to melt the blood in my veins. My breathing was faster and my blood thinner. It couldn't take the intensity. I closed my new powerful eyes as the blood started flowing out of my mouth. The thin flow was runnier than even water. My blood was so thin that it burst through my veins.

I opened my simple eyes to a basic sight. Neji looked full of panic.

He examined a drop of my blood before swearing and ripping apart the supply bag we had brought. Neji swore again and took a kunai. I could feel my screaming as his blood spattered from his wrist. He smeared it over his hand.

The jutsu he preformed was one I had seen only once. It was a transfusion.

He placed hand back over a cut that had appeared on my body. His blood snaked into the cut. Like a ribbon crawling under my skin. It hit my heart and I could suddenly breathe. I gave into the feeling of breathing. My chakra was too strong for my own blood. But with Neji's blood that already had withstood his chakra since birth, it diluted into a stronger tie. It was also a sinewy cord. Chakra matched my blood as my veins refilled.

I fell completely down. My back and head against the floor. Neji following with me, the transfusion jutsu cancelled by exhaustion, Neji's body covered mine as we slipped into unconsciousness.

#&#

When I finally drifted out of the haze I only saw one thing. Neji was leaning against the cave wall. He looked beaten.

"Neji" I whispered in the faintest, breathiest of tones.

He came over to me, his hair filled with dirt. Smudges of blood and dirt were smeared across his cheekbones. "I love you so much," He spoke. He leaned over to kiss my forehead. "Drink this." He commanded. He reached down the cradle my limp body, pulling me up with him. He held my head as he slowly tipped the liquid into my mouth. The coolness ran through my body. It seemed to help the fatigue, but I was to weary to stand up and fight the demons of exhaustion. I would retreat and wait it out.

#&#

"Neji?" I whispered. I felt better than before. It was as if the fog had cleared. My vision was perfect, though not the same as I had experienced earlier; it was clear, not hypersensitive.

I moved my arms, I sat up. I was in Neji's lap; he was appearing to be keeping a guard. If we were caught out here, we would both be vulnerable.

I was tired; but it all felt wrong, as if we were under a target. Somebody was near here. Neji looked tense; a mouse in a hole, eyes wide for the cat. Slowly he stood, shaking his head as an 'all clear.' It didn't so much bother me other than the unease. It could have been nothing more than the wind in the bushes, but my body was hyperaware of my husband.

The word just came to me, it was weird since I never had really thought about it like that before; husband. It wasn't bad, just foreign; alien.

"Is something wrong?" I asked hazily, already falling back into the abyss of sleep.

"Not now." He soothed. I never imagined Neji could be soothing, but it seemed to pacify my wild screaming instincts. His hands on my waist and shoulder, his lips pressed against my hair. It was calming and I found myself succumb to the peaceful feeling of unconsciousness.

#&#

I knew the sound of shuriken when they were thrown. It woke me to a scene I had not fallen asleep to. Neji still had me in his arms, running from threatening people that were following us. Ninja I presumed. But I had no idea if we were running from our friends or our enemies.

Neji stopped to let me down, we sat down on the tree branch, I was waiting for an explanation.

"Two following. We can run to Konoha or fight."

I just gave him a look; I didn't ever want to run from those with a grudge towards Konoha, even if he disproved of my course of action. "Fight."

My answer was plain. I stood shakily, it was three days since my curse, and I had slept most of it away. Neji pulled a few soldier pills from his kunai pouch. Two were given to me and I ate one, chewing the nondescript taste.

A quick kiss was given to me; Neji's chapped lips brushing against mine before I retrieved my scrolls from the depths of my pockets.

The ninja in pursuit of us had already caught up. We jumped from the trees to the forest floor, we were to face them. I checked that my forehead protector was in place, the metal reflecting the sun.

They came to face us; but they weren't who we had originally thought. A girl; her grin vicious and mischievous, a boy hidden in the shadows of the woods.

"Who are you to come here?" I asked. I just wanted a simple explanation.

The girl stepped forward, I recognized her, a sand ninja, he kazekage's sister. "We weren't looking for you; we were looking for a set of missing nin. We shall continue with our mission."

One of the boys- men really- took her arm, stopping her. "He's not far off, high-rank, but he may have unknown accomplices."

He looked up, and I was shocked to recognize him, I looked at the girl with realization. The man's eyes were simple and plain, his hair was in a spiked ponytail and it was evident he was Konoha's own, even if she wasn't.

"Nara Shikamaru? Temari of Suna?" Neji addressed; a confirmation of my own thoughts.

"Tenten and Hyuuga." Shikamaru observed. "Wana chase the criminal down with us?" He said. Even his voice had a lazy, uncaring manor.

We nodded and joined the foxhunt. Neji stayed close to me.

"Remember that power you could bring on with your eyes?" He asked me in reference.

I had since examined my chakra and discovered where the weird power was kept. Like a box or a jutsu I could unlock or perform. Use it.

"Yes," I answered positively.

He sighed, a heavy expulsion of breath carried by the wind. "It's the byakugan; it's a component in the curse, a compound, remove the other element and it's left raw." So that was the conclusion he had come to over the time I was weary.

"I have the byakugan?" I asked.

We had come upon the criminal. The four of us faced him. "You can try it if you want, if you feel you can control it."

I nodded as we encircled the missing-nin.

He had stopped running, ebony eyes quickly observing the four of us. Even with us encircling him, he was entirely calm; white shirt stark against the landscape. His black hair was unmoving. I could swear I felt his watching me as I formed a defensive stance.

I didn't know who he was or how to do anything with my new, strange power.


	4. Part IIII

This _is _Rated T. Just wanted to remind you… 

**Part IIII**

_With hands held high into a sky so blue  
The ocean opens up to swallow you  
_(Hands Held High – Linkin Park)

I felt for my chakra, the alien part. It filled my eyes easily; my vision spreading so that I could see the whole area. Almost naturally my gaze focused on the flow of my opponent's chakra. He brought it into his hands as he began a jutsu. I reached out with my chakra strings to lock around his wrists.

Neji was watching behind me, unworried, I could see the chakra flowing in veins to his eyes. I supposed I must look like that. It shocked me enough that I let go of my strings. The moment the strings were gone the missing-nin formed his jutsu.

A blast of water threw me back into a tree. The numb coarseness of hitting the wood spreading sharply throughout my back, such was the impact of the water. In the time he hit me Neji and Temari began throwing a round of hand-to-hand combat at him.

His eyes flickered over with steel as he pushed Temari back. She stopped several seconds after she was forced back. The missing-nin stopped too. He didn't dodge or try to hit.

I walked forward and I saw the forehead protector of the criminal; the mists. My vision seemed to return to normal as I let myself relax. If this was the byakugan; it was as frightening as useful. Both Temari and the criminal took a smooth step forward. I instantly looked for Shikamaru, drawing my scrolls from the pouch they were in. Shikamaru mirrored the two, His face was expressionless; no mercy in his fixation for the criminal. Both Temari and the Mist's ninja were in his possession, the sun was in a bad possistion, he had used Temari's shadow to immobilize our opponent. …shadows within shadows; sneaky little bastard!

He voiced the arrest warrant, a warrant for death. I drew three kunai from my scroll. I let Shikamaru finish the details before I threw them.

I've never missed such an easy target. He fell as the jutsu was released.

Temari and Shikamaru stood close together, their heads inclined. I vaguely wondered if they were together, they seemed so attuned to each other.

Shikamaru seemed to be contemplative of something. "Tenten?" Neji addressed. There was a tone in his voice that made me worry. Before I rationalized anything, my chakra reacted. The clarity and intensity made me revolt internally, still unused to the feeling of the byakugan. It was scary, being able to see the two ninja's in front of me, but also the one behind me too. It was foreign, but I didn't seem to be able to help using it.

I would have to learn better control; there was no way this could be used against me. Or at least I was determined that not happen.

"There's a story here." Shikamaru observed. He leaned his back against a tree as Temari huffed and sat down near his feet.

I looked at Neji and back to them. "But you're not asking for it, or about it." I pointed out belligerently.

"Its Hyuuga business," Neji said calmly, dismissing the subject.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Tenten's not Hyuuga."

Way to point out the obvious, I rolled my eyes. My hand reached up to comb through my long half-down mass of hair; a habit of thoughtfulness.

Neji just glared at him; he shrugged and let it drop. "It's late, so we might as well camp here." Temari said in resolution.

"Who is he?" I pointed to the body.

Temari spoke. "He was a sand ninja who cammited treason over us to the mists. He indirectly sold secrets of the Village hidden in the Sand to the Village hidden in the Mist."

"I'll help you take care of the body." Shikamaru stated, the two of them dragged him out of the regular line of sight.

Neji came over to me. I leaned against the same tree Shikamaru had been up against. "How do you control the bayakugan?" I asked.

"Total emotional control." Neji stated. "Don't bother, you can try as hard as you like, but you'll never achieve it."

Sure it was true and as brutal as the truth often is; but the anger fueled my next few moves. I swept out and pinned Neji against the tree. "Are you sure?" I whispered, my lips only inches from his own. My voice was rougher and harsher than normal. I was a little bit irritated and overwhelmed by the byakugan experience. I suppressed the rush of blood to my head to prove a point. I kept my face blank and observatory. It failed shortly when he decided he was going to _break _what little control I had. The intensity of a challenge was brought out in his eyes, whether to me or to himself I cannot say.

"Positive," he growled out. He was evidently physically stronger as he pushed me flush against the tree, pinning me. He kissed me hard before I could argue.

My own incentive for arguing was taken in me trying to control this kiss. I fought back his tongue with my own, but the mood changed. It was pleasurable, maybe even filled with the slow tag of lazy desire. I could feel Neji's hands slide down my sides to rest at my waist. My own hands ended up at his shoulders as I withstood his control.

My shirt rode up as his pushed me harder against the tree. The pressure made me wrap my legs around his waist; finally just giving in and being submissive.

The heat and the passion that evolved from this act was mind-blowing. Our bodies were pressed as far together as they could be, our mouths melding. I was starved for air as I bit Neji's lip lightly, gasping as the kiss was broke. Neji's hands played across my stomach and to the edges of the tape that bound my breasts. The sensation of his mouth over my skin made me ache.

He dropped his head to trail his tongue down my neck. I moaned, my head scraping against the bark. "They're coming back." Neji whispered his voice was aggressive.

"I wish I didn't care," I replied. We untangled ourselves and tried to clean up as quickly as possible. Our appearances had suffered, both of our clothes were rumpled and our hair tangled. Neji's hair was even loose, falling around his face in dark strands.

I grabbed a kunai and tackled Neji to the ground. "What are you doing?" He asked; suspicion evident in his tone.

"Giving our appearance an excuse," I said plausibly.

He kissed me chastely.

"They kinda look like us…" Shikamaru observed. Neji's timing sucked. He probably did that on purpose.

Temari nodded curtly; I took in the fact they were together as I climbed off of Neji.

"I think I need an explanation," I said dizzily.

"Me too." Temari agreed. She found her packs and started setting up a tent. I went over to help her. The night was nice; I preferred to sleep out under the stars. And at this time of the season I wouldn't even suffer from the irritating insects that usually plagued the forest.

"You and Shikamaru? How?" I asked. I was weary, blunt; all my discretion and grace worn down by days of stress.

She looked over at the subject as he nodded his approval of her speaking on this subject. "Well, it started slow, a long time ago. Eventually he was assigned as my escort as I was the ambassador from the sands. Then it escalated and we just ended up together.–-

It's not very dramatic." She concluded, shaking her head slightly for effect.

"Long story short," I started. "I was threatened with an arranged marriage, escaped by marrying Neji and then this whole Hyuuga thing got complicated and I now have the byakugan. …and no idea how to use it."

"Your Hyuuga now?" Shikamaru spoke up.

I glared at him, he blinked. "Can you keep it quiet, we're not exactly flaunting this."

"And Shikamaru said _I_ had personal issues about our relationship…" Temari said in wonderment.

Shikamaru looked her up and down. "You do."

She just rolled her eyes and leaned on the fan she always carried, I remembered that fan vividly from the first chunin exams. I had been torn in a single fight; it took all I had to get past it. Past Neji and all the others see me, a hard-trained kuniochi see me become so weak in one fight. See me lose to a girl who later lost to a boy a full year younger than me.

"This is such a mess," I observed.

Shikamaru agreed. "Troublesome."

Neji just offered a look somewhere between amusement and contempt.

I opened our pack and offered him some of the food we had left. As a foursome we would return to konoha in the day but the sun was already drowned out by the dark indigo of the sky. It was as if a child spilled a jar of paint and the light simply disappeared.

Temari had broken into her stocks and was eating something while Shikamaru meditated. His attitude was lazy and unconcerned but his mind was complex and brilliant. Of everybody I had ever met, he was the one who most fitted the word 'paradox.'

I laid back on the grass of the clearing, mentally exhausted. One of my arms was used to cushion my head, the other fell across my stomach carelessly.

Neji joined me as the others closed the door to their tent, shutting us out.

"I can't sleep."

My declaration was unusual, I had been through a hell of a day, and it was minutes to midnight.

Neji sat up, propping himself over his arms. I stared up at him through the haze of moonlight. "You can't control the byakugan properly, Tenten. You need to learn." Now?! I almost blurted out. But I realized it was a better activity than trying and failing spectacularly to sleep.

I nodded and gathered myself to my feet. I followed Neji as we walked far enough away from camp that we would wake up Shikamaru and Temari. But we also stayed close enough to assist if there was an attack. Though it was highly unlikely, you become accustomed to unlikely and surprising things happening if you remain too long in the ninja mindset. Naruto and the attitude towards him was living proof that very few ninja's had and would ever achieve this mindset. Never underestimate; it was the rule, the nindo I had created to ensure my survival in this harsh, rarely forgiving world.

"The byakugan is a gift of sight." Neji started, I had the feeling that I would know a part of this lecture from simple exposure to his talent.

He continued as I stood intent on what had become a part of me. "The first element is simple; seeing with it. As your chakra flows more rapidly in your body it heats up your blood and becomes adrenaline. It's naturally brought on by this, which is why you must have total emotional control in all situations to completely control it."

That, I swear, must be obvious; otherwise Neji probably wouldn't have attained that indifferent attitude all the time. It was a learned response; not a natural one.

"To use it on command you concentrate chakra into your eyes. Try this now."

I closed my eyes as I felt the chakra automatically race to my palms, just waiting for me to draw my usual stings; it was strange to redirect it. It flowed to my eyes with a bit of a stinging, foreign sensation.

My sensation of sight changed abruptly. I was suddenly hyperaware of the surroundings I knew were everything was in a great radius. I stared at Neji, focused.

There seemed to be layers to this gift, the first was the material 'layer.' All the things that I could usually see were amplified only by detail.

Then there was a more in depth sight; one of internals. I could sense the presence of every muscle Neji moved as he looked straight at me. He activated his byakugan and I felt the third layer. I could see Neji's chakra flow through his eyes and coat his eyes. His veins were raised to withstand the pressure; I knew mine would be too. I moved into a defensive stance.

The sight adjusted automatically to my every move, it was intensely sensitive; automatic.

I reached to strike a chakra point in Neji's shoulder; he dodged. We began to circle each other. We evaded and blocked, each movement given away by the chakra flow we could both see and the tensing movement of muscle before the strike.

The intensity heightened and Neji began to drive me back, innately focused. I held my ground but we both had begun to land the barest of blows.

I could see the chakra race through his palm to his finger tips. He hit my shoulder hard; stopping chakra. I had grabbed his other hand with the hand he had stopped the chakra flowing too, ignoring the numbness. With all of my strength I struck his shoulder opposite to mine; a mimicry of his own attack.

We both stopped as I fell from the force, the byakugan faded as my concentration wavered. I dragged Neji straight down on top of me.

He was slightly in shock as his head lifted from my chest.

"Draw?" He asked.

I nodded and hit my head back against the ground with a whimper. Neji's hand caressed my face, fingers trailing over the surface and settling over my scalp. It was soothing.

"I suppose." I whispered, trembling as I said it.

The intensity hadn't faded from his eyes; it excited me as much as it frightened me. He claimed my mouth without any gentleness. It was rough and unforgiving. Teeth clashed and he tore away with a trail of bloody saliva. My hands steadied me as I dug my nails into his flesh, making half moon circles on his shoulder blades. Of their own accord my hands entangled themselves in the silk of his hair, my arms entwined around his neck.

He kissed my neck, almost painfully; I could feel the edge of his teeth over tender skin. "What are we doing?" I asked. This whole situation was just over my head, I was dizzy from the intensity.

The next kiss was raw, his lips pressed against mine resolutely. Catlike; his tongue ran over my bottom lip, I could feel his teeth as he lightly bit down. My body responded automatically, used to his touch.

My mind reeled, I shouldn't be this comfortable. This was Neji, I trusted him with everything I ever had, my friendship, things more important than my life. Like my love.

I kissed him back, my own teeth catching skin. The world seemed to close down to just this, him kissing me and me kissing back. My spine arched and bowed to fit his movement over me.

I needed to know. "What are we doing?" It felt too good to argue against.

Neji whispered short gasps between kisses; it distracted me, I was slowly turning all control of my body over to the primal instincts. He leaned down to bite lightly on an earlobe. "What do you want?" he asked in a hoarse whisper. It made me shake and shudder, pressing me harder to him than I had been before.

I couldn't get any closer to him than I already was; I was up against gravity, flush against him. But he pushed my face away for a moment, I hated that action. He trailed a hand I hadn't noticed down over my chest to clutch the first tie of my shirt.

_Say it! _My mind demanded. Tell him what you want is this. I couldn't do that, I couldn't really vocalize it; he knew that too. I knew he just wanted to be sure; he always had to be sure. But I wasn't sure what I was doing and I didn't want him to have that privilege.

He started to back out, doubt in his eyes, a disbelief in his eyes at the unexpected. "Don't leave!" I cried out, silent tears beginning to make there way down my cheeks. My voice was broken and scared, but not very loud.

I kissed his collar bone, his neck. I moved up to his face, trailing sad kisses over his temple to his jaw. "I want this."

I was adamant; I couldn't withstand his leaving. It felt like I would break. He lowered his face to mine; a soft kiss was placed on my lips.

"Hn," was all he whispered, but it was a positive syllable. I was hypersensitive with anxiety, aware of every place our bodies touched. Aware of his hand over my shirt ties; aware when the tie was removed.

#&#

It wasn't yet dawn when I woke. My inspection was as ruthless as any I might conduct. My baggy black pants were covered in dirt with my bindings around my waist. My shirt was completely open, so I secured the bindings before searching for my shirt ties. Even though my hair was tangled I just left it as is. It was to be expected from sleeping on the ground anyways. I ignored the aches and emotions that loomed, a reminder of the night before.

Neji sat up and straightened himself out. He managed to find our forehead protectors that had been discarded. His hands were as soft as silk as he gently covered the mark that branded me. I had actually grown fond of it; it made me his. I had been so afraid of being a dog on a leash, being caged and tied to one man for the rest of whatever forsaken life I had. But I didn't mind now that I was tied to Neji. I didn't feel caged in; I felt like I had choices. Like the night before, he had given me time to back out. I just never seemed to abide. But that was Neji, he had to be sure, even if he was always confident; to take initiative he had to be positive. His hands untangled my hair.

"Co-zy," Temari commented, coming out of the tent she and Shikamaru had shared. I could feel the byakugan rising but she just rolled her eyes.

"What; and you're innocent?" I asked; my voice was dripping in sarcasm.

"I should hope not, —are we leaving today or not?" Shikamaru wined as he began taking down the tent. Temari blushed at his suggestion.

I almost laughed out loud when I felt Neji's slight shock at our casual conversation.

Temari kissed her shadow-user cutely. It was all rather boring after that. We packed up and abolished all traces of our camp.

The walk back to konoha was rather uneventful. Temari shoved Shikamaru in a puddle for teasing her before going back to make sure he got up, he really wasn't that motivated to move. But she did seem to take satisfaction in shoving him in. He didn't take offence.

Upon the gate we came to part; curt bows offered to Temari and her muddy shadow user. I tried to keep my disposition calm as I walked with cadence.

"Neji," I addressed, his eyes hardly flickered but I saw his look of attention. "What do you think will happen to us?"

His ivory skin couldn't pale anymore; but he looked faint, if only barely. My insides began to crumble like ash in the wind. "We live."

He said simply; as if the single command was a goal and an obligation and not just one of the hardest things to do. It was easy to exist, but to actually live and feel alive. …It was hard.

The very moment we set foot in the foyer of the main Hyuuga complex we knew that something was wrong. Haishi stared back at us with cold eyes that were just as ruthless as any. I recognized Hanabi standing beside him; the same piercing gaze, but more focused, snakelike. It disturbed me as I felt the slow ice-cold feeling start in my fingertips. My blood beginning to chill.

Hinata was lounged casually in a chair to the side. No other being stood within sight range. Something was terribly wrong.

"Neji-san," Haishi addressed. It focused both mine and Neji's attention immediately to him. "I request that as a branch member you will take your place in the clan and become Hanabi's protector. This will require you to discontinue missions."

For the 'good of the clan' Haishi would take away Neji's newfound freedom; he would restrict this life and repress my final promises of freedom. At this point he just might break.

"Father, I really don't think…" Hinata started, surprise etched on her face, contrast to the cold faces of her relatives. Neji himself was starting to struggle to control his rage that brimmed under the surface.

Neji's voice rang out as clear and cold as steel. "No."

Haishi bowed his head, the byakugan rising with the anger at being denied. Neji's own bykugan activated and I held his arm to keep him back. Neji's forehead protector was torn as I had to hold him back, failing slightly as I gripped his clothes. I almost let go when I saw the vibrant green light of his curse. It wasn't even effective; Hinata having helped us eliminate that possibility.

I held him back but my own inner turmoil betrayed me, the byakugan etching over my face, taking over my senses and hyper-activating them. Neji stopped moving and submitted to standing still with his glare piercing Haishi.

"Some would consider your offer an honor!" I spat. "What has reached so hard for freedom should not be denied!" Neji was deserving of his freedom, of his own choices. I was testament to this.

Haishi stepped closer, too close. I trembled with anger but stood still as his eyes scrutinized me. He reached out and I prepared myself for the blow, knowing I had no option of hitting back. Unfamiliar fingers harshly ripped my forehead protector and the bandages from their place. They fell to the ground as Haishi dropped his hand and coolly stepped back.

"Like your father you too found freedom. But not with death." He stated.

He made to the room as Hanabi followed; her face emotionless. Hinata moved over to us.

"It was wrong for him to ask you. But he won't ask again." She stated.

Haishi's voice spoke out one last time. "Extracting the byakugan should have killed her. Who told you to spill your blood?"

His voice was harsh and demanding, he needed to know who leaked powerful secrets into the branch house.

"It doesn't matter! I survived anyway; do you wish me dead rather than with Neji!" I shrieked. The question was not for me but I felt the tang of the insult.

Neji just looked up at him with ghostly eyes; the soft depths of charcoal and lavender echoing sadness and pain; the pain of a memory.

"You told my father that." He stated calmly. Neji may have overheard but the words were spoken from a brother to a brother, an uncle to a father. I bit my lip, his father was not around to see him; see how he grew up. Instead, Haishi stood, proud and inhuman enough to believe in slavery.

I felt as if my soul was slowing being ripped apart; there was something so personal I wanted to turn away or close my eyes.

Haishi surprised me by hanging his head an almost unnoticeable amount lower. But for a Hyuuga it was the burial of pride, if only for a moment.

"I'm sorry," The faint echo filled the room before he swept from it; Hinata and her sister too left the hall.

Sullenly I led Neji out the doors and into the fresh air. I knew he didn't want to be around the Hyuuga compound so I started leading him to a familiar place.

The training grounds we sparred on when we were genins was my ideal spot. He seemed to know where I had chosen to go but made no objection, nor encouragement. The Hyuuga Neji was silent, but not his moody silence or stoic silence. It was a tragic silence. Like the soft patter of the rain after a lightning show; the calm _after_ the storm… the waiting to know if you'll be okay.

My legs folded under me as I sat and then leaned back into the grass. My hair fanned out in her dirt but I took no notice. I kept Neji's hand in mine as he laid back to lay aside me.

For a long time we made no movement, no words were uttered. Lost in our thoughts the sun began to fall from the sky. The rich battlefield was spectacular; bloody hues accented with golden yellows and blushing pinks. My eyes were blank as I stared up at the painted sky with nothing in the way of emotion.

As the last indigo streaks began to fade, I absently searched for the moon. The stars glittered comfortingly but the moon was not to be seen.

I took a small initiative and brought Neji's hand —intertwined with mine— up to my lips. I pressed the pale skin and held it there for a moment. "I never meant to be so much trouble." I whispered.

He didn't smile but when I glanced over to him, his eyes appeared softer, more vulnerable. "You're not," was the response. A sigh was issued from his lips and I recognized the toll our choices took on us. I didn't know whether it was all worth it in the end or not. Sometimes it seemed like it was the only thing I had; our bond. Sometimes, though not recently, I had wanted to brutally shatter it so I would never have to feel internal pain. At the moment I cherished it with a nurturing manner instead of my usually varied ferocity and acceptance.

"I used to hate Haishi," He began, his voice barely more that a whisper, as if he were partially unconvinced himself. I used to believe he was so sure, pure genius. Now I understood how he struggled to get by. He didn't need me to hold him down; I used to think. But now I did know, he needed me to keep him grounded; in reality. Keep him here with me so he wouldn't just fade away into nirvana. "Then I realized I hated myself." I bit my lip slightly as the dark tone slipped into his words. But for now I didn't say anything; I let him choose his words.

"The more I hated the Hyuuga Main Family…" He said before correcting himself. "The more I hated everybody else; the less time I had to hate myself."

"I didn't understand when I found it hard to hate you. At first I thought it was your innocence. Then your constant smile; as if nothing ever went wrong for you."

I closed my eyes and listened to the angelic melody of his voice, the harsher tones diluted now. The words spoken antagonizing slow …slow enough that I might beat them out of anybody else. Neji had always been my exception. I was content just to hear the melodic tone within is usually cold voice. His voice now seemed emotionally charged, words both his heart and head could stand behind.

He spoke one last sentence before he too closed his eyes. "Now I know it's because you never even thought you could hate me. I saw in your eyes that never even considered it."

"I wanted you to believe that, even when I wanted you to hate me so I could hate you. Deep inside I always hoped you'd never loose that ability to see what I hid inside myself."

I smiled and kissed his hand once more before holding it in mine over my stomach. "I could never hate you." _I love you. _

He untangled his hand to reach up and trail a finger along my face. My eyes fluttered open as I glanced over to him; the same free byakugan eyes meeting mine. Even if mine were as dark as earth and his were as pale as snow; it seemed that we gained the same eyes. His message was genuine. _I know_. _So do I._

We turned back to the open sky that had taken our words and simply swallowed them, they meant something, but they were words and confessions that would simply drift. The real message, the words unspoken… they were ours. They were not for the claim of the sky or the scatter of the wind. They were for the pain in our hearts and the remedy to heal the broken parts.

They were the change for the toll that life took.

Neji stood up and pulled me up with him. Both of the marks on our foreheads showed; but even if there was nobody around to see it; it wasn't a secret anymore.

We both know this is who I am now. And this was who Neji is too; my husband; Hyuuga Tenten his wife. But who I am now is stronger by being more vulnerable. She's content with the circumstances of a relationship. The person I have become is okay; or she'll be okay. And if she looks around… the world doesn't seem so bad.

Because somewhere in the whole arrangement; I ended up seeing with a pair of harmonizing eyes.

**E N D**

#&# _Note_:

This has been an adventure; from the moment I started this I had so many ideas, but one took root and I began to develop it. I eventually learned that in writing this piece, I may not have become a better person. But I have become a stronger and wiser person.

I have discovered that I really can achieve my goals if I _want to_ bad enough. I've learned that surprises are not all bad; and the things that scare you the most can become the things that make you okay in the end.

But I also learned not to hate myself so much; and that in and of it self has kept my fingers flying over the keyboard. Slowly but surely the confidence I lacked has began to originate in my heart.

I appreciate your reviews.


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